Anima
by Diplomaticwolf
Summary: Zootopia is a wonderful city, if you are not a predator. Then you have a taser strapped to your neck, ready to remind you of exactly what you are. Juliet is an ocelot bounty hunter trying to scrape a living hunting down criminals for the ZPD. Things get really interesting when she gets a bounty for a fox named Nick Wilde.
1. Chapter 1 - Early

Anima

Chapter 1 – Early

Leaves whipped her face and stung her ears. The rain slicked her fur and clouded her eyes. The thudding of her paws was drowned by the beating of her heart. Something was chasing her through the jungle. Faster, she had to go faster. She dug in to the mud of the forest floor, but she could hear the thudding of her pursuer gaining. A roar came from behind her as she braced for the impact…

She was woken violently by electricity surging through her body. It the sudden pain of it threw her body into a convulsion and she fell to the floor in a mess of blankets and fur. She took a deep breath and lay on the floor with her eyes half open. Looking at the clock, which read 5 a.m., she thought to herself, "Seriously? Who am I supposed to eat in my sleep? Stupid collar."

She got up and decided she might as well get up. She wasn't going to get back to sleep after the rude awakening. Throwing the blankets back on her bed, Juliet trudged over her roommates and to the bathroom. A splash of cold water and some toothpaste made her feel a little less like an animal, and she got dressed.

The sun was barely coming up, but already it was warm in Sahara Square. By 9 it would be sweltering and by noon it would be hellish. I never bothered her the way it bothered some. Her species was built for warm weather.

Trying not to wake anyone, Juliet opened the garage and wheeled her motorcycle out into the street. She had been warned plenty not to start it up anywhere near the hostile. Too many prissy predators needed their beauty sleep. Not that she enjoyed staying in the hostile, but she didn't make enough money to be on her own completely. She was never there enough for it to matter anyway.

She kicked up the stand and pulled up her shirt over her collar. Stupid thing. She was never going to let it win. Wake her up early? Fine. Let's go find early work.

The startling temperature difference between Sahara Square and Tundra Town was always enough to make her gasp. At first she had to stop and wheel her bike because it often caused her to get a shock from the collar. As the updates to the collars started coming in, they started fixing some of those things. They also made other things worse.

She reached her destination near the shoreline of Tundratown. She pulled up to an old fish market and chained up her bike. Her helmet was mostly black and had a bright red, reflective rattle-can design of a rose. Her friend Leopold had done it for her, afraid the black helmet was going to be hard to see. She ran the chain through the face plate of the helmet as well.

The market was always bustling early in the morning while the boats were coming in. She weaved in and out of various mammals carrying crates full of fish being cleaned and packed in ice. Making her way toward the back of the aluminum warehouse she heard a booming bear voice from above her, "Aaah, my dear Juliet. I imagine you have come for Jazmine's vodka, yes?"

Juliet looked up above her to see a large, jovial polar bear she knew by Koslov. He kept trying to get her to call him Papa bear, but she felt weird and refused. She climbed the stairs to his office easily and went inside. The entire office was frosty and her breath left misty clouds in the air.

The massive bear was humming to himself as he rummaged through a crate of bottles, finally choosing one and handing it over to her. It was half as tall as she was. Juliet sighed, it was going to show through the top of her backpack for sure. She set it down and asked, "You don't happen to have the papers for this one, do you Mr. Koslov."

"Ah, dear Juliet. You will not get caught, it is one little bottle of vodka, nothing to worry about. Papers." He waved his hand at her dismissively.

She leaned on the top of the bottle and narrowed her eyes at him. He went about his business for a moment, pretending he didn't see her. Finally, she popped up and said, "Okay well, if you don't have papers for it then I will just have to let Jaz know she isn't getting her vodka. Maybe you can get someone else to do it, like maybe Kansas. That stray would do it."

Koslov chuckled, "Oh, be nice. He is not all that bad. He likes you."

"Don't make me gag." Her collar beeped a warning.

"I see. Very well, I will get you papers. It is money I do not like to spend, you see. It will take time to thaw more." He shuffled over to a safe, opened it, and pulled out an ice brick which contained cash frozen inside.

Juliet closed her eyes in frustration and said, "I am going to go get a cup of coffee and come back, hopefully you have papers then. You know I don't smuggle, Koslov. I don't know why you keep trying. I am smarter than I look, I know what you are up to."

"I know, but there is much more money in smuggling, girl. If you would just let go of those silly rules you have. I could use a girl like you."

"I bet you could. I am gonna go get that coffee, put that out in the sun, it will thaw faster."

Chapter 2 – Avoidance

The glass of the bottle made a pleasant click against her claws when she loaded it in her backpack. Papers in hand she got onto her bike. The ride into the center of the city was uneventful, and it left her mind time to wander.

It was easy for many predators to take the easy way out. There were two ways to go. One was to get into monotonous assembly line or manual labor work that required no mental strain at all. The other was to bury yourself deep into the underbelly of the city, smuggling and running from the reality that they were strapped into the collars I the first place. The vast majority of predators fell into the easy way out category.

However, there were those that fought against it. They chose to try to be a mammal and have a life despite the collar. They didn't let the collar 'tame' them or 'domesticate' them or any of the other descriptors the advertisements used. Juliet like to think she fought it, she really tried. She and her friend Leo. He actually had a job that required thinking, he was a bartender.

He had an agreement with the owner, Jazmine. She knew he would occasionally get shocked by his collar and break things or shock a customer by accident. She was okay with it because anyone who frequented the bar knew that they were likely to be verbally assaulted by Jazmine herself anyway, so it just added a little slapstick to the mix. Leo was always a bit of a ham, so it all worked out.

She chained her bike to the loading dock out back and went in the employee entrance. Jazmine didn't like her bringing deliveries in front. She heard Leo and Jazmine arguing.

"Look Kung Fu master, tap the keg and quit whining." Jazmine screeched.

"I was supposed to go home an hour ago, I am gonna miss the movie. C'mon." Leo whined back.

"Hey, I don't pay you to be a…" Juliet rounded the corner and leaned on the door frame. Jazmine and Leopold said happily in unison, "Juliet!"

She smiled, "Hey! You guys sound like an old married couple."

Jazmine was a spunky little skunk that always wore denim and rock band t-shirts. Her bark was her bite. Leopold looked impressive, but he couldn't hurt a fly. He practiced Tai Chi to keep his emotions under control and loved to watch Kung Fu movie marathons. He wanted to learn martial arts, but he wasn't confident enough to do it.

At the moment he was slouching over a keg pathetically while Jazmine yelled at him. He looked tired, he must have been loading in deliveries all morning. She knew he hated tapping kegs, not sure why, but he always complained.

She shifted her backpack off of her shoulder and pulled out the bottle of Vodka. Jazmine jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Yay! My vodka. Gonna have some stupid drunk a-holes spending stupid money to-nite". She took the bottle and headed for the front of the bar. Jaz stuck her head back in and looked at Leo, "That doesn't get you out of tappin that keg, do it or I will make you share tips."

Leo stood up and grabbed the tap kit. Juliet walked over next to him and asked, "You want help?"

He shook his head, "No. I just hate getting sprayed. It doesn't always happen, but when it does it gets my fur sticky and everyone looks at me like I am a homeless alcoholic."

"Are you a homeless alcoholic?"

"Very funny. I work in this hole to keep my apartment, which still has a spare room, by the way."

"You know I want figure something out myself. I never had help before, don't want it now. Why, you can't get a boyfriend?"

His hand slipped and beer sprayed the both of them, Juliet grabbed the tap and put in back in place. Leo wrung his shirt out while Juliet finished up the tap. She laughed and asked, "Did you check if it was engaged before you started? Prey love to mess with preds, you should always check."

"No. I was too busy listening to you call me gay, again." His collar beeped.

Juliet darkened. "Sorry. I am going to go wash up and head to the ZPD. I am gonna see if I can pick up a bounty. Maybe I will catch you later Leo." She walked to the edge of the loading dock and jumped off.

Leo ran to the edge of the dock and shouted after her, "I am not mad at you." She could hear him grunt as his collar zapped him. She knew it was coming. She bailed because she didn't want to see it. She shoved her helmet on and kicked her bike to life. Not caring that she was covered in beer, she sped off away toward the hostile.

Chapter 3 – Bounty

After getting out of the shower, she looked at her phone. There was a text from Leo. It was a sad cat face emoji. She smiled out of the side of her mouth. They were a little old for emojis, she thought. She searched through and found a sad face one and added, "We r cool. See u 2 nite." After all, she was the one who had bailed. She felt bad about the joke too, it was supposed to be harmless. She was off her game a little.

She shook it off and left for the ZPD. Maybe a good bounty hunt would get her back on track. A ride through the city on her bike always cleared her head. The warm wind dried her fur on the way to city central.

Juliet walked through the front doors and waved at the receptionist. The receptionist was a salty water buffalo that disliked answering phones, even though that was the bulk of his job after getting mauled on duty. Juliet took a sharp left toward the chief's office. There was a pin board there that had bounties and bail jumpers posted for licensed bounty hunters.

It didn't take much to get a license. You had to learn how to read a mammal their rights and swear to use non-lethal force when apprehending. You also had to learn jurisdictions and borough lines. Along with a few minor details about how and where you can apprehend and how to properly book a mammal. Ultimately having a license meant that what you did held up in court. It made things easier for the ZPD. It was also the only way a predator could do anything close to law enforcement. That is exactly why Juliet loved it so much.

The board was surprisingly bare. There was only one job, and it said, "See Bogo." She thought, well woohoo. That guy is about as much fun as an infomercial. She took the page and knocked on the door. She could hear a gruff voice mumble something that sounded like, "comin".

She opened the door and walked in. His desk was as tall as she was, so she jumped up onto the chair in front of him and stood up. It put her eye to eye with Bogo. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Clearing her throat she tossed the paper on his desk, "Ill take it."

He snorted, "Don't you want to know what it is?"

"I gotta eat. Doesn't matter much what it is."

"You may change your mind, Juliet. This one came from the higher ups. Not your usual jumper. This is a tail and apprehend."

She turned her head and flicked her ear, curious, "Tail and apprehend? Don't you have detectives for that?"

"They insisted that this be a bounty. The perp gets jumpy. Gave my newest recruit a hard time yesterday, she ended up in wet cement."

Juliet chortled, "Sounds like you need better recruits, Bogo. I think I can handle it. So what is he?"

Bogo looked as ruffled as a buffalo gets, "A fox"

Juliet smiled, "This is going to be fun. Give me the file, I will find him. I think there is more to it though, isn't there?"

"Yes. We need proof that he has tampered with his collar in some way."

"You can't do that? Can you?"

Bogo stood up and grabbed a file out of his cabinet, "He must have found some way to do it. I imagine this is why they need the proof. They want to figure it out and bring him in."

"Huh." Juliet tried to sound as nonbiased as possible.

Bogo caught it, they both knew it, but they both ignored it. He handed her a file. Bogo said, "They have put a two-week timer on this one, but it pays almost double the going rate. 20,000. With an extra 10,000 if you get proof of extra crimes."

Juliet took the file. She opened it, the name of the fox was Nicholas Piberus Wilde. She scanned over the file briefly before asking, "Is there anything I should know that isn't in the file, Bogo?"

Bogo was quiet a moment before saying, "We have gotten rumors off the streets that he runs some kind of predator amusement park. We don't know where. The part that makes it hard to believe is that he is rumored to be able to turn off the taming collars for the duration of a predators stay there."

Juliet closed the file slowly and leaned forward, "You are kidding me. That has to be some kind of urban legend or fairy tale or something."

"I would think so if we hadn't heard it so many times from so many arrestees. If you find this park Juliet, it would be very profitable to you to let us know about it. Be careful with this one, foxes are tricky."

She got down from the chair and laughed at Bogo, extending a hand. Bogo returned the gesture and they shook hands. She left without another word, thoughts ringing in her head. When she got to the lobby, she bumped into a rabbit. She dropped everything in her hands, and so did the rabbit.

"Oh, sorry. I was…I don't know. Just sorry." Juliet bent to pick up the file and help the bunny pick hers up as well.

The bunny looked at the picture in the file and pointed at it, saying, "That is the guy that gave me a hard time yesterday. What's he done now?"

Juliet looked at her and put her hand out, "Juliet Hunter, licensed bounty hunter."

The bunny smiled and puffed up, "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD." They shook hands. "Let me know if you need any help with that fox."

Juliet chuckled, "Will do." She watched the rabbit walk away and thought, seriously? A bunny rabbit can be an officer, but predators can't? She is gonna be a fuzzy snack for somebody. Good luck girl, you are gonna need it.

Leo had replied to her text with a happy smiley that read, "First one is on me!". That sounded like exactly what Juliet needed. She replied to Leo to meet her there, got on her bike and sped toward the bar. Chapter 4 – It's only

The bar was fairly empty. There was a female weasel smoking a cigarette at the bar, her collar blinking in the dim light. There was a group of sheep having beers and playing cards in a booth in the far corner. Jazmine's bar was sort of rare in that both predator and prey drank there. It gave the bar a particular atmosphere that Juliet always liked. Leo was drying glasses behind the bar. Great way to be a cliché, bro, Juliet thought.

She plopped into a bar seat and saluted the weasel, who nodded at her. "Hey Leo, you got a minute?" Juliet flashed him a smile.

He raised an eyebrow and put the glass away slowly and suspiciously. Juliet rolled her eyes and put the file on the bar. When Leo finally made his way over, she opened it. "Know this guy?" Leo inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly, asking carefully, "…why?".

"Because, he is my mark. Rumor is he has a theme park where he disables collars. I seem to remember you telling me a dream you had about that once, and you wanted to show me where it happened. I laughed at you, and your collar shocked you, and we stopped talking for a while. It wasn't a dream, was it Leopold?"

He slouched and put his head down, looking at the floor. "You had to use my long name. Look Juliet, that was almost a year ago. I haven't even thought about it since."

"You didn't say no. Do you know something about this?" She tried to catch his gaze.

He sighed, "Maybe. Not a lot about it. After my shift, I am off in a couple of hours. You wanna wait here? It's slow. I could use the conversation." He said the last bit hopefully.

She closed the file and put it away, saying, "Absolutely, you promised me a drink! Remember?"

He perked up and grabbed a glass. He started flipping bottles and pouring this and that into the glass with ice. He slid it to her and she took a sip. It was really good, she smiled and gave him a thumbs up. They spent the next two hours mostly talking about how much Juliet did not want to try Tai Chi, and how much Leo thought she would benefit from it.

"I find inner peace on the back of a motorcycle Leo, not by being the next karate kid. You keep doing the warrior pose in front of the bathroom mirror and I will drive down Sand St. doing sixty. To each their own." She raised her glass and finished it. Leo shook his head and grabbed the glass from her.

He pointed a finger at her and said, "You are a terrible liar. You get peace by taking down criminals. The chase is where you find peace. It just sounds bad to say it."

She flushed, she could feel her fur bristle just a little. He was sort of right, in a way. She did enjoy hunting criminals. Her collar beeped a warning. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Why don't you just get me another drink and leave me and my inner peace alone."

He did just that, and they remained quiet for the last few minutes of his shift. She met him outside. The first thing he did was apologize. It irritated her.

"Gah, why do you do that Leo? It is okay to make me angry. I get angry. You get angry. Most of the time we get electrocuted and the world goes around. You don't have to be sorry for it. You were right. I do find peace in the chase. I like to know that even though I am stuck in this stupid collar, at least I can do a little good in the world." She pulled the collar of her riding jacket up over to cover the taming collar.

Leo chuckled. "You have this way of boiling the world down. You should branch out a little. It would do you some good. So, where do you want to talk?"

"Well my place is out, since it isn't technically a place and I had to be there an hour ago to not get locked out, so your place I guess." She didn't look him in the eye. She hadn't hung out with him in nearly six months, and felt horribly guilty for it.

"Right. You wanna take my car? I will drive you to your bike in the morning." His voice had an air of pleading.

She chortled, "Sure, I won't make you ride on my deathtrap. I don't have a helmet to fit your fat head anyway."

His car was remarkably clean. He was usually pretty unkempt about his stuff, so it was strange to see it clean. It also smelled flowery. She shrugged it off. He had probably cleaned it after he got sprayed with beer.

They fought over the radio stations until Leo pulled the 'my car' card and Juliet stuck out her tongue. He looked out the window and asked, "So your bounty hunting thing, it gets you shocked a lot, huh?"

"Yep. It really isn't too bad. At least I am making some kind of difference. Makes it worth it."

"Uh huh. You keep saying that. Who are you trying to convince?"

Juliet pondered for a moment. She watched the lights of Zootopia go by in a blur. She had never stopped to wonder why she kept saying it over and over again. A knot started to form in her throat. Her collar beeped and she turned up the radio so they couldn't talk anymore. Leo didn't push it. He never really did when her collar beeped a warning, it was something she liked about him.

They pulled up to Leo's dune apartment shortly after. Juliet had managed to calm down by then. She admired the place. Dune apartments were placed so that the winds in Sahara square blew sand over the top of them in such a way that one main window remained uncovered. There were sweepers that came by regularly to dig out excess sand and keep the units from being completely buried. Otherwise it didn't seem so bad.

The inside was much nicer than she expected. The floor was a rough carpet that had sand in every corner. Probably unavoidable. Leo had various Asian decorations on the walls. There was a fan painted with a phoenix on the living room wall. He had a glass mirror in the shape of a yin yang in the hall. There was a bamboo plant in his dining area. There was a yoga mat rolled up and laid against the large window of the living area. Other than that there was the usual; couch, table, tv.

Leo went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of sodas, he handed her one and plopped on the couch. He popped the tab and chugged half of it. He looked at her and pointed at the couch. "It doesn't bite"

She made a sarcastic face and hopped over the back onto the couch. She popped her own soda and said, "So, this theme park thing. What is it?"

Chapter 5 – Leo

"Hold on here Jules"

"I hate that name"

"Good. Why are you after the guy, what did he do?"

"Well…nothing technically. I am not supposed to talk about it."

"So…I am supposed to help you lock up somebody that didn't do anything…technically?"

"They wouldn't put out a bounty for this much money if he hadn't done something, I am just not always party to exactly what they did. I just get paid to catch them. Usually it's a bail jumper. Just not this time. "

No small amount of sarcasm was wasted by Leo in his response. "Right."

"Oh c'mon Leo. What is this?" Juliet put her soda down and turned to face him. He was looking at his soda with a contemplative expression. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and set his drink down too. Juliet just thought, 'oh here we go.'

He stared out the window while he spoke, "It's been months since we really hung out or did anything as friends, and you just show up expecting me to spill my guts. Honestly, as far as I know this Nick guy does good things for people at this park. I don't know if I want to help you, Juliet. You bailed after high school, we have barely been in touch since then. You only show up when you want and barely talk to me. You say I am a friend, but pretty much only when you need a punching bag or when it's convenient to be around."

Their collars beeped in unison. Leo had to know it would happen, that is why he couldn't look her in the eye. She could feel the anger welling up like a wave. She wasn't going to let him get away with it. She lurched across the couch and grabbed the sides of his face and made him look at her. His ears went back when she looked at him.

She growled and shouted, "You want to know why? You have a good thing going at that bar. You have a life, a good life going. I have a half-life skulking around hunting low lives around Zootopia because I can never actually be what I want. They strapped a collar on me and told me that I can never be what I want. I deal with that my own way, but I will never drag you down with me Leo. So quit being a crybaby about it, okay? I am your friend and I will always be your friend. You want me there? Call me. You want to hang out? Tell me! You aren't convenient, I am just trying to scrape a living out of this crap hand I was dealt…."

She didn't finish because her collar shocked her, and Leo got shocked a bit too because she had her hands on him. She spasmed with the pain. She would have fallen off of the couch if Leo hadn't caught her. He hugged her and kept apologizing over and over. She shook with the left over adrenaline and broke the hug. Adjusting her clothes, she got off of the couch and made for the door. Leo stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I know you have nowhere to go. Crash on the couch. I will tell everything about Nick in the morning, okay? I didn't mean to upset you. I just miss my friend."

The last words stopped her. She shook her head and replied, "Yeah. I am sorry too. I lost track of things. Just, don't apologize anymore…okay?"

He put two fingers up and said, "Scouts honor."

She raised her eyebrow and said, "We both know you are not a Ranger Scout."

They laughed together and Juliet felt tons better.

She awoke when the light from the sunrise hit her. Sitting up she looked over at the window. Leo was there and she could barely make out the silhouette of him doing his Tai Chi in front of it. She watched the slow movements he made. They were not nearly as clumsy or awkward as she remembered them to be. He had obviously been practicing, and his breathing was rhythmic with the movements. She watched his outline. Juliet did not remember him being quite so buff. Maybe from lugging around kegs and bottles at the bar? Whatever it was, it was working. He looked way better than the scrawny guy she remembered at the pool a year ago. Not too shabby actually.

"You're awake." He said, without breaking his movements.

"You're creepy." He had startled her. She sat up and stretched. "Are we going to talk about that bounty? I only have a couple of weeks to do it. I do have to pay my bills. It's not a nine to five gig like yours." She started folding the blanket he had lent her to sleep under. It smelled like him. It was red with gold dragons on it.

"I am almost done. There are bug tarts in the cupboard if you are hungry." He transitioned into a stance that made his thighs bulge a bit. Why did she even notice? That shock must have rattled her brain…she needed coffee.

Like reading her mind, Leo added, "And coffee above the toaster."

She squeaked, "ooh." And hopped over the couch. She caught her foot in the blanket and fell flat on her face. That broke Leo's concentration and he fell over laughing at her. She just lay there for a while. "I think I you got me hungover, or I got scrambled by the shock or something."

Leo sat cross-legged and said, "Or you just need to go around the furniture like a normal mammal."

"or that."

"You stay still so you don't break anything, yours or mine. I am going to make coffee." He got up and she watched up walk to the kitchen upside down. Yep…. definitely more buff. What was wrong with her? She needed to get going on this bounty. She was feeling weird.

She stopped looking at him and asked, "Soooo…. this Nick guy…."

Leo sighed, "Right. Well what I know is that he runs a clinic over in Happytown. That slum in the bad part of city central."

Juliet added, "I know it. I was a bridesmaid for one of the shop owners over there."

Leo shook his head and continued, "The rumor is that the clinic is a cover for the entrance to the park. The thing is that he is hardly ever there. He is a hustler and runs around scamming and skimming and pretty much making money any which way he can everywhere."

Juliet sat up and grabbed the file, she took it over to the table in the dining area. "A hustler huh? The only other bounty like that I had was a raccoon. I had to pretend to be a mark for him to get him. This might be harder than I thought."

Leo leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. He was wearing shiny blue gym shorts. His fur was darker than Juliet's and had more spots. She used to poke fun at him in school about being splattered in…well. She let the memory go and looked back at the file.

Leo asked, "So how do you start this stuff? Do you just go showing everyone a picture and ask 'have you seen this criminal?'".

"If it were that easy, they wouldn't pay so much. Actually, I will probably start with the clinic. I wish I knew what kind it was."

"I think it's a collar clinic. You know, for broken or malfunctioning collars."

"huh, I wonder if my collar shocking me in my sleep qualifies as malfunctioning."

Leo uncrossed his arms, he looked worried, "Seriously, Juliet? You didn't think that was something you should get fixed? How long has that been happening?"

"Well, I am going to go get it fixed right now. I have an appointment to get to. I will text you later."

"You aren't staying for coffee? I thought I was taking you to your bike?"

"My bike is way safer at the bar than in Happytown, I will come by to get it. Thanks Leo, you're awesome. Catch you later."

She left Leo leaning against the counter, staring at the window in his living room.

Chapter 6 – I remember

The bus couldn't get there fast enough. Juliet felt like her heart could beat out of her chest. The whole experience at Leo's had her completely off her game. She jumped onto the bus and threw herself into a seat. Putting earphones in, she put on the most energetic track she had in her phone. She had to get back into the zone.

She was in total disbelief that she had lost her cool; and what was she thinking staring at him like that? This was Leo. Mr. Kung fu master, sci fi geek, can't tap a keg, Leo. Maybe she was just getting into a heat, and if that was the case, she needed to stay away from men all together. She had managed not to have a boyfriend of any sort so far, and she planned to keep that streak going.

She looked to the side to see a sheep and her daughter sitting across from her. The mother was shooting glances at Juliet, looking worried. She was twice Juliet's size, seriously, what was she worried about? Juliet did a half laugh at the lady, and waved at her daughter just to make her uncomfortable. The daughter waved back energetically and her mother looked mortified. It cheered up Juliet a little to mess with the sheep. She didn't like speciest mammals. They were the reason she was stuck in the collar in the first place.

They were the reason her parents hated themselves.

They were the reason her parents had hated her.

She sighed. She shouldn't have yelled a Leo that way. It wasn't his fault she had a crummy life. It never would be. He was the only one that ever checked on her. He was the last one she should be yelling at.

She could hear him saying that he missed her. She hadn't really gone anywhere, but she knew what he meant. It was ten years since high school. Ten years she had scraped by. Here and there she had made efforts to hang around, but it got harder and harder. Being around him just made her feel. Just feel. Happy, sad, angry. So the lengths got longer and longer.

She looked out the window and watched as the shops and homes got uglier and uglier. Mammals got on and off of the bus. She knew they were going to pass her old house. It was unavoidable. She turned up the music and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Her senior year of high school she had a good grip on her collar. It never shocked her. She and Leo were inseparable. They had plans to open a bookstore or something like that. She wanted to be a police officer and he wanted to learn martial arts. She was full of life and hope. Always singing and bouncing and trying to cheer up her parents.

They worked at a factory in town, long hours to pay bills. They may have well have been black and white. They did the same thing every day and never spoke. They rarely looked at her and her dad never looked up from the tv. When she would say hello he would just growl.

Then, the day of graduation, she told them she wanted to be a police officer. That she was going to see if she could convince them that she could do it even with her collar on. That she never got shocked and it would be okay.

That is when her father stood up. He walked over to her and all he said was, "You can never be anything that they don't let you be. All they want is for you to hurt. It's going to hurt, every day, for the rest of your life. Starting today." Then he started making it hurt. It didn't stop, not until she was unconscious.

She knew her collar beeped because everyone on the bus looked at her, she looked sideways at them and pulled her shirt up over it. She crossed her arms and sunk into the seat. She turned up the music until it was deafening and let the house go by.

Finally, the Happytown stop came up and she ran off of the bus. She stomped away without any particular direction. She just needed to move. A few blocks and some strong breathing, and she was much calmer. She looked around at the dilapidated buildings and boarded up houses. Happytown was originally supposed to be the part of town that predators were allowed to live, but it fell into disrepair when the city cut funding.

She asked around about a collar clinic. Given her state, most people had a compassionate look on their face. It worked for her, she needed to stave off suspicion that she had ulterior motives for being there. She met a wolverine that pointed her to Hill St. It was only a block over, so she didn't have to go far.

She turned the corner and bumped right into a bear. She apologized profusely and looked around him. He was standing in a very long line, about a half a block long, to get into the clinic. Raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help thinking, well that isn't suspicious at all.

She tapped on the bear's shoulder, which required tip-paw, and asked, "So, is this the line for the clinic?"

He grumbled a confirmation. Not a cuddly bear. Looking around, she tried to spot a good place to watch for her mark. The buildings were all boarded up and beaten down. If Leo was right and there was a theme park around here somewhere, where in Zootopia was it? There was no way it would fit around here.

She resigned herself to waiting in the immense line. Being stuck with her thoughts was not something she wanted today. Not after the rollercoaster she went through over the last twelve hours. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was Leo.

He texted, "Any luck?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah…stuck in line behind Pooh bear in the projects. Tons of luck. Wishing I had that coffee."

She put the phone away and bounced on her paws. Patience was not one of her virtues. She had taken a sloth bounty once, and would never do it again. Her phone vibrated again, and the line moved briefly. She took a step and looked at the phone.

"One cream or two?"

Completely puzzled, Juliet sent a question mark as a reply. She heard a cheezy martial artist sound of "Whaaaatchaaaa" from behind her. She recognized it as Leo's text alert. She whipped around and saw Leo with two coffees.

Beep. "What are you doing here?" She gawked at him incredulously.

He smiled, "I knew you were going to want that coffee, and it's my day off. I have nothing better to do."

She took the coffee and took a sip. It was perfect. I guess it was okay, she wasn't actually taking him down or anything. It was just recon, and she did feel really, really guilty about being a jerk to him the night before. Not to mention standing in line would be way better with a friend around.

"Sooo, next time you don't have to bail. I will drive you. You have issues, you know that?" He sipped his coffee and looked sideways at her.

She inhaled to retort, but just exhaled. "Yep."

It took almost two hours before they got near the clinic. Right before they went in, Juliet grabbed Leo and whispered, "If anyone asks, you are my concerned boyfriend. Otherwise I talk." He nodded his agreement and they went in.

Chapter 7 – The Clinic

The clinic had a waiting room full of multi-sized blue plastic chairs. The floor was black and white checkered and the walls were a sterile white. There was a blue carpet with an arrow that pointed to a receptionist's desk. The desk had a sign over it that read, "check in here first" in very flowery lettering. Behind the desk sat a bubbly, chubby cheetah.

Upon approaching the desk, there was a mug that read "I heart Gazelle" as well as a snow globe which contained the likeness of the popstar. There was also a Gazelle calendar on the wall. The receptionist had a nametag that read "Clawhauser". He popped up and said, "Hello, please sign in! What are we seeing you for?"

There was no way to avoid smiling, this guy was too bubbly and energetic. Juliet answered, "My collar keeps shocking me in my dreams."

Clawhauser put his paws to his cheeks and said, "Oh! You poor thing, take a seat and we will see you and soon as we can. It's a bit of a wait, I am afraid."

"That's okay" Juliet smiled.

She found a chair as close as she could to the desk. She wanted to hear the exchange between Clawhauser and the patients. Leo kept looking at his phone, he was texting someone. She figured it was Jazmine about work. Juliet concentrated on the conversations around her.

She picked up on various issues with everyone's collars. The most common seemed to be a "short circuit". Very vague, and Clawhauser would smile and not ask questions when they said it. She was so busy paying attention to what they said that when Leo spoke she was a little startled.

"You know. For such a long line, there aren't a lot of mammals coming out of there." He didn't look up from his phone. He was probably doing it on purpose trying to be sneaky.

Juliet watched for the next ten minutes, and he was right. For every three that went in, only one came out. There was no way that many mammals would fit in the building. That qualifies as suspicious. Before she could make a decision whether or not to bail, they called her name. She looked a Clawhauser hesitantly, but Leo took her hand, just like the 'caring boyfriend' would and led her through the doors. Again, with the feeling things around Leo.

Clawhauser took her vitals and took her into a room. Leo sat in a chair and she hopped up on the table. He cleared his throat and said, "So…weird, right?"

She laughed, "Yep. Pretty much sums it up."

"and after this?"

"I dunno. Depends on what kind of info I manage to get. Speaking of which..." She got off of the table and started to rummage through the drawers. Just medical supplies. Nothing special.

Leo watched her, checking his phone on occasion. "Charmed life. I can see why you enjoy it." He said, watching her peek at the trash.

She shot him a look and got back up on the table, "you would be shocked at what you can find in somebody's trash. I find money in there all the time. I haven't seen that Nick guy. I haven't heard anyone mention him either. Just that everyone's collar has a short circuit. I think it's a code."

"For what?"

"No idea. I don't read minds. Most of what I learn is by listening to people. I will have to keep lurking around and listening. I just have to figure out who to listen to, and where. Those are called leads."

"I am not dumb. Does anyone ever figure out what you are up to?"

"Every once in a while. The smart ones do, then they start watching me. Then I have to get smarter, that's when I end up getting shocked a lot. Usually I only end up getting shocked on the take-down."

There was a knock at the door. The door opened, at first Juliet didn't think anyone had walked in. Then she realized Leo was gawking at the floor. She leaned over the edge of the table and saw a very, very small fox with very large ears. She lifted an eyebrow and said, "Seriously?"

"What? You want me to leave?" The voice that came out of the fox sounded like a 300lb pound bear. Leo and Juliet both dropped their jaws in disbelief.

The fox shook his head and said, "That's what I thought, shut up." He climbed up on the table with Juliet and asked, "So what is going on with your collar?"

She shook off the shock and said, "It's uh, shocking me in my sleep."

He pointed at the clipboard he had left on the floor and then looked at Leo, indicating he wanted him to hand it up. Leo scrambled for it and gave it to him. The fox shook his head impatiently. Juliet read his nametag, Finnick.

"So, how often do you get shocked by your collar, Juliet?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

Juliet balked, "Uh, like daily or..."

Leo put his muzzle in his palm and Finnick dropped the clipboard. He said, "Okay, listen close. The sleep thing has nothing to do with your collar girl. It's stress. Are you under a lot of stress?"

Juliet said, "No."

Leo said, "Yes."

Finnick crossed his arms and looked at Juliet, who rolled her eyes. She glared at Leo who shrugged and went back to texting on his phone. She said, "Fine, Yes, I am one big bag of stress. Stress and me, we are old pals."

Finnick pushed Juliet's muzzle and looked at the main component to her collar. He clicked a button or two and looked back and forth to the clipboard once or twice before saying, "Well, it's working great and it's updated. However, it's jacked up to the maximum volts. So whatever you do for a living, chick…its rough. I am surprised you haven't had a heart attack getting 5000 volts a day to your system. This thing goes off in your sleep too? You sure you aren't dead walking around?"

"Pretty sure, princess. Want me to prove it?" She was getting kind of irritated with Mr. Finnick. Her collar agreed with her and beeped.

Leo and Finnick both shook their heads. Finnick got down from the table. He wrote something on the clipboard and asked Leo, "She always this way?"

He replied, "yep."

Finnick added, "I have a buddy, Nick, He is exactly like that. His collar fries him too. I keep telling him what I am going to tell you. You need to chill out, take a vacation. The world will keep turning if you stop trying to save it. You keep going this way, your collar is going to send you to the loony bin or worse. I can't do anything for ya. Ciao."

He slammed the door behind him.

Leo put a paw on his knee and looked at the door saying, "Well that was useless…"

Juliet jumped down and put her hand on her hip, smiling. "Nope, he said his buddy Nick. Finnick is exactly the guy I need to follow. You coming with me?"

Leo turned his phone off and put his hands up indicated why not, and they left the room. Juliet looked down the halls in both directions and caught a glimpse of the tiny fox to the left. She made her way in that direction without consideration of Leo behind her. He followed hesitantly.

She tailed the fox through the corridors of the clinic until they came to a back exit, the fox stopped. Juliet looked around for a place to hide. There was an empty exam room across from them and she ran into it. She waved for Leo to follow her, and he clumsily did so. Finnick looked in their direction, but must not have suspected anything because he returned to what he was doing. Juliet could hear him pick up a phone and dial a number.

"Yah, Hey Clawhauser, tell Nick I am going to meet her now. I am taking my lunch anyway." Finnick slammed the phone onto the hook and took his jacket off. He mumbled something that sounded sarcastically like, "carrots" and went out the back door.

Juliet looked at Leo and counted to five. Then she went after the fox. Leo made a choking noise and she knew he was completely out of his element. He was the one that wanted to come along. She opened the back door slowly and didn't see much. Just a brown van with a mural on it. Finnick got into the van and climbed onto a pile of books to reach the steering wheel. He turned on some loud music and ripped out of the clinic.

Juliet went all the way out of the door and slammed her foot. She didn't have her bike, she couldn't follow him. But…"Leo! You have your car?"

"Uh, yeah…It's parked a few blocks over that way."

She grabbed his hand, "Let's go." She dragged him after the car as fast as he could go. He kept up better than she thought he would, and before she knew it, they were racing to the car. She didn't know where she was going, so it gave him an unfair advantage.

He got to the car first. They were both out of breath, but laughing. They got in and Leo asked where they were going. Juliet told him that Finnick had headed north, and it couldn't be too hard to find a big, brown van with a mural on it.

Chapter 8 – Donuts

They drove all over Happytown looking for the van, but couldn't find it. Juliet was disappointed that she had lost her only lead. They parked in front of a donut shop and she slumped in the seat. Leo turned off the car and checked his phone. They sat in silence for about a minute before Juliet sighed and said, "Let's just get something to eat so I can think." She opened the car door and slammed it behind her.

It took Leo a few minute to follow her, so she already had a cup of coffee and a bear claw ( _what is with the puns in this city?_ ) in front of her when he came in. He sat down and got comfy in the chair across from her, setting his phone on the table. He took a piece of her bear claw and ate it. She watched him do it, lost in thought. She was never this lost on a bounty. Usually, there was someone that had a grudge, or someone that was going to owe a lot of money that she could get to flip on them. This was different and she was lost.

Leo watched her for a minute, chewing slowly, and asked, "So, this is the closest to hanging out we have done in a while. It's kind of nice."

Her train of thought was broken and she smiled at him, "Yeah. It makes it suck less that I am completely at a loss with this guy. That Finnick guy and the Clinic are my only leads and they are shaky at best. No sign of a theme park anywhere either."

"Yeah. I am a little disappointed about that. Never been able to get on a roller coaster."

"That would have been a sight. If they took pictures, definitely a keeper. The look on your face would be priceless."

"Really? I remember you being the one that couldn't get on top of the Jungle Gym."

"Not fair! I was like ten! I got up there…eventually…once." Juliet took a sip of her coffee to hide her embarrassment that Leo remembered something from so long ago.

Leo tapped a paw on the table and looked at the donut display. He narrowed his eyes and said, "You know, I did see a donut box on the counter at the clinic. I think the Clawhauser guy likes them. Think we could bribe him into telling us something?"

"Maybe. If we can't get him to tell us where that Nick guy is, then maybe at least we can find out if the theme park is real. You're a genius, Leo. Let's get a dozen and go!" She threw back her coffee and jumped up. They split the cost on a dozen and made their way back to the clinic.

The line had dwindled by the time they got there. There were only three or four predators in the lobby and Clawhauser was humming pleasantly to himself. They approached the desk and put the donuts on the counter. Juliet put on her best charming smile, which got a very odd look from Leo. Clawhauser looked up from his paperwork and made a happy noise at the sight of the donuts. Juliet leaned over and whispered, "Finnick said that I need some stress relief, and I was told that maybe there was a place that I could relax. I was also told that maybe you might know something about it?"

Clawhauser put his paws on the box of donuts and said, "You didn't have to bring me sweets for that. But you are just so adorable. Oh my goodness. You two come with me."

Juliet elbowed Leo in a playful 'thank you' way and they followed Clawhauser through the clinic to an elevator. He pushed the down button and said, "You just get in the boat and when you get to the end of it you walk down the tunnel and at the end you pay the entrance fee and follow the instructions. You two have fun. I hope I see you again."

Juliet put on her sweetest voice, "Thank you so much, you enjoy those donuts! Don't work too hard!"

Clawhauser giggled and the elevator doors opened. Leo and Juliet stepped in. Juliet dropped the smile and rubbed her muzzle, she didn't usually smile that wide. Leo let out a laugh. She looked at him and said, "What?"

"That was adorable. You almost sounded like a girl."

"We are in closed quarters; you have nowhere to run. Did that seem a bit too easy?"

"A little, I guess. Was is supposed to be hard?"

"No, yes…maybe. Whatever. When we get there we have to look for the fox. So keep your eyes open, okay?"

"Yeah, but can we maybe have a little fun while we look though? I mean you just found out this place is actually real and you aren't at least a little excited? What if they can actually turn your collar off, even for a little while?" Leo leaned against the side of the elevator and looked at her.

She put her paw to her collar and felt it. The idea gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if they could? Her train of thought was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. They stepped out into a darkened tunnel.

It was dimly lit, and Juliet recognized it as an old subway tunnel. She could feel her pupils dilate to accommodate the low light. She could see fine, and found the boats that Clawhauser had mentioned. The subway tunnel had been flooded somehow and the boats were moving along like some kind of log flume ride.

Water always made her nervous and she jumped into the boat, avoiding as much water as possible. Leo followed her and sat next to her. The ride was remarkably short before they were met with a neon sign that read, "Wilde Times". They floated under it and looked at each other with nervous glances. The boat floated up to another exit area where a smiling bear held a hand out for them. Leo jumped out of the boat and helped Juliet, basically ignoring the bear's help. The bear didn't seem to mind, almost as if it was normal for mammals to act that way. The bear pointed down the tunnel, there was only one way to go so it was a little unnecessary. Juliet started to wonder why the Bear was actually there.

The pathway was much better lit, and led to a kiosk. A wolverine reading a newspaper was sitting with his feet up inside. He saw them approach and folded the newspaper. They didn't quite reach the counter, so they couldn't see what he was doing, but they could hear him rustle around inside the kiosk before coming out of the side with a bag of tools.

He sauntered over to Leo and Juliet. Juliet took a step back. The wolverine said, "Whoa, first time?"

Juliet didn't answer, which was pretty much an answer.

"Right. Lemme explain how this works. I am Richard. You are either going to see me or Finnick here, which you probably met at the clinic. We are the techs who work for Mr. Wilde and work on the collars. Don't worry, we know what we are doing. You two together, synced up or anything?"

Leo jumped a bit and shook his head no. Juliet didn't take her eyes off of the wolverine. His collar had no lights at all.

He walked over to Leo first. He said, "You seem to be the calmer one. Let me show you. By the way, Nick says your first visit is always on the house." Leo stood up tall and let Richard look at his collar. The wolverine looked around the bag for a second and pulled out a tool that looked remarkably like a tv remote. He held it to Leo's collar, which beeped twice and then the lights went dead.

Juliet stood as still as she could for the wolverine to disable hers, he commented about the voltage just as Finnick did. She asked, "What is the big deal anyway? I can handle a little extra jolt." She rubbed the collar as the lights went out.

Richard lifted his eyebrows at her, "That isn't just a little extra, your collar is at the highest possible voltage allowed for your height and weight, legally. Any higher could kill you. Too many shocks together could kill you. You're a walking time bomb. It's no wonder you are stressed out. Some time in here could do you wonders. Enjoy yourself."

"hmph" Juliet gave Richard a sarcastic look and walked with Leo past the kiosk and through the doors.

Leo elbowed her, "Hey, I think thank you was the appropriate response there."

"I am not a walking time bomb."

"Oh no, not you. Never. Uh uh." Leo laughed.

Juliet crossed her arms and they walked together into the park…and they both gasped.

Chapter 9 – Wilde Times

The entire park was underground and lit with millions of lights. String lights, neon lights, strobe lights, spot lights. Predators and prey alike were running to and fro laughing and carrying on without a care in the world. Loud, belligerent, free.

It was the most fantastic spectacle they had ever seen in their life. Juliet watched a car full of mammals rocket over their head on track that could only be a roller coaster. She could smell food and sweat and dirt. She loved it. Leo had the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face she had ever seen. She looked over at him and said, "okay, maybe we could have a little fun."

Leo had lights reflect in his eyes, he chuckled and threw his fist in the air. "I knew this place was real. C'mon. I will race you to the roller coaster." He grabbed her hand and yanked her away into the park. She started slowly after him, but started running faster.

She let herself get excited, just a little. Then more, and more. She let out a yell as they ran through the crowds of mammals. She thought they would be angry, but they cheered them on. It was amazing to feel free, not to worry about the collar stopping her. They had raced before, but not like this. She let herself feel every heartbeat, every thump of her footpads on the concrete. The adrenaline coursed through her and it felt natural. Leo was lost in his own excitement. So much so that he didn't see the entrance to the ride. Juliet made the sharp left, and Leo skidded to make the turn. She beat him there and stuck her tongue out at him.

Leo caught up with her out of breath, "That…was…amazing…"

"Oh yeah. I wish I had listened to you back then. I can't wait to get on this thing, it's going to be so great!"

Leo put his hand to his collar. He looked at the line around them, everyone was smiling and happy. "This is paradise, Juliet."

"Don't get mushy on me, Leo. You'll ruin the buzz." She punched him in the shoulder, and leaned on the metal rail that formed the line.

"I mean, what if it could always be like this. If all the preds of Zootopia could shut off their collars at once and be free. It would be…"

"Perfect." Juliet finished his sentence. Leo put his arm around her and she smiled. They moved up in line and she said, "But it isn't, so we have to enjoy this. You wanna be up front? Or are you going to wuss out and ride in back?"

"I'm riding wherever you are." He put his phone his pocket and tapped it defiantly.

They got in the front seats of the ride and locked in. Juliet immediately got nervous. She looked at Leo. "You don't think this thing goes very high, do you?"

Leo laughed, "Of course it does, you aren't gonna wuss out are you?" He emphasized her words.

She looked forward and grabbed ahold of the handles on the restraints. She felt afraid, and some part of her expected a shock, but it never came. She couldn't remember feeling fear without pain. It really wasn't so bad, being afraid. Not as bad as it was with the collar.

The ride started moving, and she got more afraid. By the time they were at the top of the slope, Leo was laughing hysterically, "Your face, Juliet, oh my god!" Juliet felt like she was going to throw up. As soon as they dropped, she could feel her tail bristle from end to end, and she screamed the loudest she had ever screamed in her life. After the first drop. She was laughing.

They got off of the ride, and she was so packed with adrenaline she could barely walk. She sat down near the exit and started preening her tail with her claws. Leo eyeballed her from as seated position across from her. She glared at him and said, "Yeah, I bristled, so?"

He got up and left for a minute, she just continued to preen her tail until she could walk. When she could finally stand up, Leo returned. He handed her a postcard-sized picture. It was the two of them on the ride. Her face was frozen in horror, and you could see the end of her tail bristled out of the side of the car. Leo's face was contorted in maniacal laughter. The whole scene was so amusing Juliet couldn't stop herself from breaking out in laughter.

"That's your copy, Juliet. A memento of the only time you were the one that was scared more than I was." Leo showed her the edge of a second copy in his pocket.

She smiled, "You would have to have photo evidence of that, wouldn't you?"

He put his arm around her shoulders and said, "There are games this way, let's walk through them and look for your fox, how about it?"

His tone was strange, but she agreed. The boardwalk was adorned with games of all kinds. They avoided anything with water guns on principle. Water and cats don't mix. As they made their way down the boardwalk, they listened to all of the mammals trying to bring in players. One particular badger caught their attention.

"Beat the badger at the strength hammer. Hey, you, the ocelot in the shirt. Wanna show off to your girlfriend? C'mon over and give it a try!" Juliet snorted. She knew the badger was talking to Leo. Leo was staring at the Badger with eyes like saucers. Leo pointed at himself.

The badger said, "Yeah, you. C'mon. Show off for your sweetie."

Juliet said, very loudly and sarcastically, "Yeah…show off for me" and gave him a shove. She was having far too much fun. She followed him over to the game. Leo handed the badger some money and watched as he hit a large metal button with a cartoonish rubber hammer. The lights zinged up almost to the top of the wooden sign where a bell hung, and zipped back down.

The badger handed Leo the hammer. A small crowd had gathered by then. Juliet put her hand over her mouth, Leo gave her a disapproving sideways glance and smacked the button. The lights went all the way up to the bell and made a rather loud 'ding'.

"Good job, son. Pick a prize for your sweetheart." The badger hollered. He picked a stuffed purple duck. He put his other hand in his pocket and rushed over to Juliet, who was laughing hysterically at him, because she actually could. He tried to hand the duck to her, and she put her paw out to stop him.

"What am I going to do with it?" He said.

"Keep if for me, sweetie, I don't have anywhere to put it at the hostile" She took a deep breath and started walking further down the boardwalk. Leo shrugged and tucked the duck under his arm, he seemed eager to get away from the badger.

They came to the end of the boardwalk and there in bright neon was a sign that read, "Nicholas P. Wilde" on the side of a building. Juliet stopped and pointed saying, "You think that is his office, just maybe."

Leo nodded, "you might be on to something."

Chapter 10 - Oblivious

.

They waltzed up to the door of the office to find a sign which read 'the fox is away'. Juliet raised an eyebrow and said, "Well he thinks highly of himself." She started walking around the side of the building. Leo ran after her and looking over his shoulder he asked, "What you doing?"

"Looking for a window or something," she found a window but it was shut tight. She continued to look around the building, but was having no luck.

"We are going to get caught and thrown out of here, Juliet."

She didn't look at him when she replied, "scaredy-cat,".

"I am not…just stop…Juliet. Seriously. He isn't here. Can we just enjoy the park? It's getting late."

She stopped and looked at her phone. He was right, it was getting late. She had to check in to the hostile or she would lose her bunk. More than 48 hours away loses a space, house rules. She kicked a rock and looked out over the boardwalk. Plopping down in the grass outside the office, she sighed "Today was a bust."

Leo sat beside her, putting the duck gently on the grass beside him. He put his paw behind her and looked at the boardwalk as well. He said, "Not completely, we found this place. We found the office. It is just a matter of time. You will find him. Let's just enjoy the day together."

"Yeah. You aren't bad company I guess." She punched his arm pathetically. He smiled. She continued, picking at the grass, "I have to get back to the hostile though. If I don't check in every 48 hours, I lose my bunk and I have to get on the list again. Which could mean sleeping under a bridge. I would rather not. So let's get going." She brushed her paws off and tried to get up. Leo put his paw on her leg to stop her. She looked at him, confused.

He said, "Hold on. You can crash with me, you know that. Why are you so determined to stay at that place?"

She sighed in frustration. "I just want to make it on my own, besides. You don't need me cramping your style."

"What style?"

"No kidding."

"Hey! Well the offer stands. I will drive you to your bike at least. I told you I would. You can't keep running forever, you know." He stood up and cradled the duck under his arm, offering her a paw.

"I am not running from anything, Leo." She got up without taking his hand.

"Keep telling yourself that, Juliet. You have been running since high school. You have to slow down sometime or you are going to crash. I worry about you, more than you realize."

"Okay, Mom, then you can buy me a drink when we get to the skunk. That will take care of me just fine." She stuck her tongue out at him and sauntered off.

Leo sighed and rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his head, his ears back in frustration. "I could use a drink."

They found the exit and let Richard turn their collars back on. Juliet asked if they would stay off if they just ran. He said no, as soon as they got into range of any of the signal towers, they would reboot. Before long they were back in Leo's car and arguing over the radio, the duck in the backseat.

They listened to the radio for a block or two with Leo fidgeting in his seat. He adjusted over and over again. After a few minutes of it driving her mad, Juliet threw her head back and growled, "Out with it, will you?"

Leo gripped the steering wheel tighter, "Out with what?"

"Whatever is bothering you? Either we need to stop for the bathroom, or you need to ask me something."

"No, I don't."

"You want to; you haven't sat still since we left the park. You gonna ask me or am I going to have to make you?"

"Make me?"

She extended a claw and started wiggling it toward his midsection, he began to flail away from her. The car swerved dangerously and she laughed maniacally.

Leo gasped, "Fine, Fine, I was just curious if you have had a boyfriend since high school."

Juliet paused for a second and relaxed in the seat, "Hell no. Never. You should know that. I could never get a date in high school. You took me to everything so that I didn't feel embarrassed. Not that that creep Kansas doesn't try."

"Kansas?"

"My kinda-sorta rival bounty hunter. I stole one of his bounties, once. Now, he takes on every bounty he can get his paws on hoping to bump into me. He calls me all of these pet names and tries to be sweet and caress me and ask me out. He bought me jeweled cuffs once." Her collared beeped. She forgot it was active again. Just talking about Kansas got her blood boiling.

Leo's collar beeped as well. Juliet was surprised, she hardly ever heard his collar warn him, let alone shock him. He was gripping the wheel super tight. He flexed his paws and gripped the steering wheel again. He asked, "What did you do with the cuffs?"

"You're gonna love it. I cuffed him to a park bench in Tundra Town. Left him there." Juliet was a little off-put by Leo's behavior. Was he actually…jealous?

"Creep is too good a word for that guy. I knew you didn't like him, but wow. Now, I don't like him, like, with a passion."

"I don't run into him too often; he works for Koslov mostly." Juliet felt the need to reassure Leo.

"The polar bear you pick up Jaz's Vodka from? I can pick that up from now on if you want?"

"Oh, my knight in shining armor! Really, I can handle Kansas. He touches me again; I might neuter him." She extended the claws on her paw, and her collar beeped another warning. She retracted them. Seems like they both got a little too comfortable at that park with their collars turned off.

"Are you sure, it's not a problem, really." He looked at her with genuine concern.

"Why are you being so nice?" She eyed him suspiciously. He was acting really weird. Maybe it was having his collar back on, or something.

"In a really good mood I guess. I had a really nice day. What does that Kansas guy look like? That way I know if he comes in to the bar." He was looking forward and controlling his breathing. Probably to avoid getting shocked.

"He is a Curacao. He wears this stupid black jacket with stitching that says 'Wild thing' on it. He is pretty easy to spot with his stupid cowboy hat he wears too." Her collar zapped her this time. She jumped in her seat and put her paws up to it in a grimace. It didn't hurt as much as it normally did. The wolverine must have turned it down when he turned it back on. She thanked him secretly.

Leo looked at her with concern, she knew he caught the shock and had ignored it, and said, "I will keep an eye out, and I will serve him the cheap stuff with the ice from the bottom of the machine, just for you."

Juliet snorted and they pulled up to the bar. As they walked in Jaz yelled, "Where have you two been all day? Roll in the hay? Or did you catch that gutter rat?"

They sat at the bar and Juliet said, "Hey Jaz, say that any louder and everyone will be able to tell him that I am after him. You will put me out of the job."

She poured them both a drink and said, "Then you can work for me and I will have a matching pair of bartenders. You would get better tips than this idiot. He is too sweet. Guys would pay their last dollar if they thought that a bad girl like you might go home with them."

Juliet replied, "Thanks but no thanks, Jaz. I like what I do. Leo can keep his job."

Leo had his face in his paw, but moved his paw and pointed at Jaz to say, "Hey, I get plenty of tips, and btw, I have been working out."

Jaz made a 'Hm—mm' affirmation noise with lots of sarcasm and went about pouring drinks for other patrons. Leo and Juliet both shook their heads. Their conversation was mostly about Juliet not working with Koslov anymore. She convinced Leo that she rarely saw Kansas there so it was fine. She really didn't get why he was so worried anyway.

After the drink, Juliet went to her bike. She gave the bike an enormous hug. She really did miss riding it. Leo put his hands in his pockets and said, "Well jeez, the bike might as well be your boyfriend, you keep hugging it like that."

Juliet laughed, "Not much of a cuddler." She strapped her helmet on.

Leo remarked, "Well, he and I differ there. Am I going to see you tomorrow?"

She straddled the bike and said, "I am probably going to go stake out that park and see what I can learn from the mammals that work there. If I can't catch him there, maybe they know where I can."

"Maybe after you do catch him, if the park is still running, you want to go again sometime."

She looked at him through the helmet, he was looking at her sideways, with a strange glance. She had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She blamed the alcohol and said, "Sure. I would like that. Seeya Leo." She kicked the bike to life and took off. The whole scene had gotten weird and she was thankful to go for a ride to clear her head. She didn't understand what was up with him. Maybe a good night's sleep and she would figure it out.

Chapter 11 – Acquiescence

It felt good to have the wind in her fur again. There was nothing like the power of her bike. She could feel every inch of her body vibrate with it. Every strand of fur radiated with it. The first few times she took the bike out she ended up getting shocked by her collar from the sheer exhilaration of it. She eventually learned to temper the feeling and now it was more like meditation to hug the curves of the road.

The sun was going down over the sandy dunes of Sahara square when she got to the hostile. She wheeled her bike up in the fading orange light. It felt like it had been more like weeks since she had been there; even though it had only been two days.

Most of the other mammals were around the dining table enjoying the communal meal. It was included in the fee. Juliet shrugged and got a plate, joining them. She ate silently, listening to them jabber on about boys, jobs, and money.

She realized they all had the same sort of defeated tone in their voice. There was something she couldn't quite place, a sadness. As she watched them talk, she could the same sadness in them. In their movements, their mannerisms. Every last one of them was so dull and cheerless. Juliet hadn't noticed it before, but now she had seen what mammals looked like when they had even a small moment without their collars. This scene was like something out of a black and white film.

Leo's words came to mind, "Paradise". She had an urge to drag every one of them down to the park and show them even a moment of real joy like she had. Except, she had to arrest the fox responsible for it all. Her survival depended on it. What would be the point to show them something she may be taking away?

She lost her appetite and put her plate in the sink. She threw her stuff onto her top bunk and jumped up silently. She lay on the comforter with her paws behind her head. Bringing in a bounty had never bothered her before. She hadn't even laid eyes on this guy, and she wasn't sure about bringing him in. It was always, there is the bad guy, get him. No muss, no fuss.

It was all Leo's fault. He had been the one to point out all the good the fox was doing at every turn. Leo always slowed her down when she tried to charge into things. She folded her arms. As a matter of fact, he had been acting strange all day. What was up with him?

She glared at the ceiling, trying to recall their conversations. The one which came to mind over and over again was Leo asking if she had a boyfriend. From Juliet's experience in observing mammals over the years, a male usually does that when he is interested in a female. She turned her head slightly and twitched her ear. No way. Leo? Why would he have any interest in her? She shook her head and got under the covers.

She was going to go back to the clinic and sniff around for that fox. She had to survive before she could worry about her best friend carrying a torch for her. Why did she notice now? He couldn't have just decided today that he liked her. It was probably the park. That park…

She drifted off to sleep dreaming of carnival games and purple ducks.

She had breakfast with the other predators, mostly out of guilt that they had no idea about the park, and she did. If it still ran, she had every intention of taking every last one of them. She would take every single predator in Zootopia just to give them a taste of that momentary freedom if she could.

Why did they have the stupid collars in the first place? She felt some small pang of anger somewhere deep inside her. Beep. The other predators, two wolves and a polar bear, looked at her with suspicion. She smiled sheepishly and said, "Heh, I have a bounty giving me the slip. Bugging me a little. Oh, and I think my friend might like me, so just got some stuff."

The polar bear, her name was Jaqlin, perked up and said, "Oh! Finally, you and Leo are getting together?"

"What do you mean finally?" Juliet asked, puzzled. All of the preds at the table laughed and didn't say anything else. Juliet grumped and took her plate over to the sink. She waved goodbye and grabbed her cuffs out of her bag. She mouthed, 'finally?' to herself as a question. She shook it off and stashed her stuff on her bunk. Whatever they meant, it would have to wait until after she got her mark.

Happytown was pretty busy, she had no idea that there was a farmer's market. She found a place to park her bike. She would be able to blend in better at least. Juliet wandered around the market, looking at the different fruits, vegetables, and crafts.

It wasn't long before her attention wandered from the wares to the mammals. She found herself comparing prey to predator. Prey were colorful, laughing, full of life. They were alive and free. Preds, most of them had that same listless, gray look to them. There were a few that smiled, a few that found a way to feel, to fight. Juliet made an effort to wave and smile at each one. She wanted them to know that she saw the effort they made, that she was fighting too.

Fighting what exactly? She shook it off, she was there for a reason. Juliet decided to leave the market and make her way toward the collar clinic. She found the clinic, but it was closed. She growled in frustration, but then she noticed a small fox decal in the corner of the closed sign that had an arrow pointing to the left of the building.

She followed it around back to find the wolverine, Richard, from the day before reading a risqué magazine full of canid females. He quickly stashed it when she came around the corner. He smiled and said, "Ah, its 5k."

"5k?" 

"Your voltage, before I changed it. What can I do you for? You here for another day in the park?"

She chuckled, "Actually, I was hoping to catch your boss, Mr. Wilde. I had some questions. I want a job."

He clicked his tongue, "Right, well, Nick is not the type to get found. He is the type to go find mammals. I will let him know you are looking for him. He is out…er… looking for carrots." The wolverine slapped his knee and laughed loudly.

Juliet didn't get it. "Right. Well then how do I go about getting into the park on a day when the clinic doesn't operate?"

"Say please." He smiled a very toothy grin.

This very odd display caught Juliet off guard and she giggled childishly. "I'll keep that in mind. For now, I was just curious." She padded off shaking her head, and he went back to his dirty mag. A thought occurred to her, maybe she could sneak in and get to Wilde's office. She looked at the clinic and tried to imagine where the elevator door was inside.

She had her best guess in mind as she tried to look for a water source large enough to flood the subway tunnel. Then she remembered then Happytown was adjacent to the rainforest district. Sly fox…he could just bypass the runoff. She just had to listen for water and…Yahtzee.

She found a drain cover large enough that she could fit through it. It looked as though she hadn't been the first one with the idea. The fence covering had been cut and peeled back numerous times for different size mammals. She happened to be rather small, so she would fit easily. She could just sneak in and get to his office….

"Well aren't you just a vision from behind, my sweet Juliet" came a voice from behind her.

Chapter 12 – Kansas

"Kansas" Juliet spat it. Her collar went off and her fur bristled. She stood up and turned around slowly, glaring up and the Curacao as though he were something to be squashed.

He put his paw over his heart and said, "You do remember me darling, it had been so long. I thought you would have forgotten me. You broke my heart leaving me all hot and bothered in the cold like that. You outta make it up to me."

"What are you doing here Kansas? You just here to harass me? Or are do you have a particular purpose for slithering around?" She tried to control her breathing, she knew a shock was coming on. Her paws clenched in frustration.

He used to thumb to push his hat up and leaned against a trashcan. "Oh, just after a rather slippery fox, maybe you heard of him, a Mr. Wilde?"

She pointed at him, her collar beeped again. "He is my mark Kansas; I will make you a soprano if you weasel in on my score"

"Be still my beating heart. You are such a fiery little thang. Tell you what, have a drink with me at my new club, the Tomcat Lounge, and I will back off. What do you say, Sweet thang? He smiled greasily at her.

"I will be dead and cold before you get anywhere near me. Then again, you might like that, creep. I am going to get Wilde first. Go enjoy your tomcats." Her collar shocked her and she cringed.

"ooh, that hurts the both of us, Darlin. You outta think long and hard about my offer. Things are a changing around here and you wanna be on the right side. I will see you around, perty tail." He winked at her and swaggered off.

Juliet sat, she was shaking from the shock and the anger. Stupid Kansas was on her bounty, this bounty of all of them. She had to work fast. The wolverine said he was not there, so it wasn't worth the risk sneaking in. She would have to come back later that night. She felt awful anyway. She decided to just go back to the hostile and take a shower. She needed to wash the encounter with Kansas away physically and mentally.

They were supposed to be out of the hostile during the day so Juliet had to sneak through the restroom window to get a shower. It was mid-afternoon when she finished her shower and headed toward her bunk. The scene that met her was hardly welcoming.

The ZPD was crawling all over the hostile. They looked startled to see her come out of the restroom, and she thanked her lucky stars she had dressed before she came out. The bunny office she had met before was able to ID her easily, so that was a plus. Apparently a bunch of angry predators in suits had ransacked through the hostile looking for something.

The bunny officer, Juliet remembered her name after seeing her badge, asked, "Aren't you on a bounty for the ZPD?"

Juliet leaned against a bunk and crossed her arms, "Yeah. I am."

"Do you think that this has anything to do with that assignment."

"No idea. You tell me. You're the officer."

The bunny tapped her foot and said, "Have you run into any kind of trouble on this assignment Ms. Hunter?"

"Oh, just the other sleezeball bounty hunter you 'assigned' to the mark. Y'know, Kansas. He is trouble in the worst way, and then some. Other than that I have just been tracking him down."

"Kansas. Right. Well thank you Ms. Hunter. We will be in touch. Be careful." The officers left.

Juliet looked through the hostile and found the owner, a wolf by the name of Aileen. She was cleaning up some glass. Juliet had a pang of guilt and knelt down to help her. Aileen was startled at the sight of Juliet and waved her away. She asked her to sit.

"What is it Aileen?" Juliet asked. She hadn't talked to the old wolf much, except to pay her fees once or twice a month and to handle any complaints the other tenants had about her.

Aileen sat across from Juliet on a battered sofa. She sighed and put a paw on Juliet's leg. "Juliet, we need to have a conversation that has been a long time coming. I am going to get you a refund for the time you have left paid for. In light of events, I think it is best that you go now, before everyone else returns. I don't believe this is your fault, but your occupation does welcome trouble. You are nearly thirty. This is a youth hostel. I have been very gracious with you because of the actions of your father, but I believe it is time for you to move on from here."

Juliet's heart sank. Her collar rang its warning and she scooted off of the couch and stood. She swallowed and was barely able to say, "I don't know if this was my fault, but keep the money to pay for the damages. You won't see me again."

She stormed out of the room, Aileen didn't try to stop her. Juliet threw everything she cared to take with her into a backpack. She threw anything she didn't want onto different bunks to indicate who got to have them. When she was done she left out of the door. She started her bike as loudly as she could and ripped out of the hostile, spitting sand behind her. There were still ZPD cars outside. She weaved around them; ignoring the look that officer Hopps gave her as she sped away.

That place had been her home for a very long time. It hurt to see it go, but she knew it was going to happen someday. Her heart weighed heavy with the feeling of loss. Her collar beeped now and again and she would just hit the throttle to kill the feeling. She knew exactly where she was going to go. She needed a friend right now. She needed Leo. She was going to take him up on that offer.

Chapter 13 – Dark

She nearly missed Leo's place she was going so fast. She fishtailed slightly to stop in time. His car was parked in the drive. There was a red truck parked across the street that was unfamiliar to her. She was too upset to care too much. If she gave in even a little, she was going to burst into tears.

Her knock was more urgent than she intended. She realized that she should have probably texted him ahead of time, oh well, too late now. She bounced on her paws impatiently. He was there, why wasn't he answering?

He finally answered, he was in gym shorts. He was shocked to see her, "JULIET?" He came out of the apartment and shut the door behind him. "What is going on?"

She tilted her head, "Well, I got kicked out of the hostile, so I thought I would take you up on that room offer!"

He rubbed the back of his head and grimaced, "This is a bad time, Juliet. I really, really hate to do this, can you come back in an hour?"

She took a step back, "Bad time? My turn, what is going on, Leo?" Her voice cracked. Her collar beeped.

Before he could answer, the door opened behind him. A female sand cat stood in the doorway in a sundress. She leaned her arm over her head against the doorframe and asked, "Everything okay, Leopold?"

Juliet felt an eruption of pain from her stomach through her chest. She fell backwards into the sand. Her collar shocked her and she rolled over into the sand, tears forming in her eyes. What was going on? She thought…that Leo…who was she?

Leo lunged forward to help Juliet up and was trying to say something, but Juliet smacked him away. Her collar shocked her again. Sand stuck to the tears in her eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. She didn't care. She got to her feet and ran to her bike. She roared it to life just as she heard Leo yell, "Juliet, wait, please!"

She was gone into the evening light. The air blew the sand from her fur and dried the tears to the fur on her face. The pain would not subside. There was only one thing left to do. She was going to catch this damn fox, collect her money and disappear. Then no one could hurt her anymore. She could be no one, and nothing. She could go where there was no pain, far away from everyone that she thought cared about her.

She was going so fast around the junction to Happytown that she skidded the bike. She thanked her lucky stars she always wore a helmet, and cursed that she was wearing her favorite jeans. They looked designer with the road stress on the right side now. She tried to start her bike, but it wouldn't start. She kicked the bike, which earned her another shock.

The collar shocks were actually numbing the other pain. She could handle the collar pain. Better the evil you know. Juliet looked around at the darkening city and decided she was just going to walk. Stashing her bike under an overpass, she started on foot with her entire life on her back.

The drain grate she had found before was easy to locate again. Throwing her backpack down first, she slid into the darkness feet first. Her paws landed on the wet ground silently, and she let her pupils adjust. She could see as thought it was the middle of the day. Picking up her pack, she followed the river that the boats floated on.

It was a shorter walk than expected. She had plenty of adrenaline to heighten her senses. All she had to worry about was tempering her mood to keep her collar quiet. The level of ultra-focus kept her mind off of everything. She was going to get her mark, if it killed her.

The park was closed. The stillness was eerie. The only sound was the lapping of the water against the stone of the long disused subway tunnel. As she made her way toward the entrance the sound lessened and everything got quiet. She could hear her own pulse in her ears, it was deafening. She ducked into the entrance and was careful to tread softly through to the fox's office.

She moved as quickly as she dared through the park, trying not to recall the memories of her and Leo's day there. The photo memento was in her pack. She passed the hammer game and her heart beat a little louder. Her collar beeped. The sound echoed across the park like a bullhorn. She stood completely still and took a deep breath; trying to calm herself. She got moving again, she had to get away from the boardwalk.

She spotted the office. The lights were on. Her heart did a little leap of joy and she quickened her pace. Intentionally, she went around back to the window she knew was there. Putting her pack in a seemingly safe place, she made her way near to the window. She could hear faint voices inside. One she recognized as Finnick from the collar clinic. Another she didn't recognize, but was sure had to be her mark, Nick.

If she had to, she was pretty sure she could over-power Finnick. Even with her collar on. She tucked her cuffs in so they wouldn't click against the window and pulled herself in backwards, so that she would be as quiet as possible.

CLANK

Everything went dark.

Chapter 14 – Cry

Juliet woke up to the sound of someone saying, "Really, Nick, you didn't have to hit her so hard."

"Oh, Carrots, precisely how hard do you smack someone that may be trying to kill you?"

Juliet couldn't help herself, "I wasn't trying to kill you."

The room got silent. Juliet sat up and rubbed the back of her head; she had been struck hard enough to knock her on her tail. She had never been knocked clean out before. She could take that one off of her bucket list.

Looking around the room she took an inventory of everyone there. She saw Finnick, her mark Nick, and was startled to see the ZPD bunny officer, "Officer Hopps? What in the fuzzy side of hades are you doing here?"

Judy bounced on her heels and said, "It's a long story. We should wait until everyone gets here."

Juliet stood up from the floor, "We aren't waiting for anything. You better give me one good reason I am not arresting that fox and taking him in for my bounty."

Judy looked at Nick, who shrugged, Judy said, "Well Nick is, technically in my custody until further notice…so he is kind of, sort of under arrest."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "That is about as clear as mud. What is going on? What happened to good guys and bad guys? I don't get it. This whole bounty has been one whacked out trip. I have been kicked out of my home, my best friend has lost his mind."

Nick put a paw up and injected, "speaking of Leo, you should probably give him an opportunity to clarify your small misunderstanding."

Juliet's collar beeped and she took a step toward Nick, "The only thing you or he are going to get from me is a swift kick in the kiwis. I am pretty upset with the whole male species right now!"

Finnick chortled from the top of a stool in the corner of the room. Juliet whipped around to face him and growled, "Got something to add to this circus, short stack?"

Finnick raised an eyebrow, and Nick laughed at him. Finnick added, "Yeah, just the idea of golden boy Leo doing anything worth getting kicked in the chicharones."

Judy put her arms out and said, "Okay. Everyone calm down. Juliet, you have had a rough night. Nick is in my official custody until further notice and you may need medical attention. Why don't you sit down until everyone gets here and we have a serious talk? We will explain what is going on. Until then, can we just be calm, no kicking of any kind of produce?"

Juliet crossed her arms and sat against a wall in the opposite corner of Finnick. Her tail twitched impatiently. She had an issue with being disrespectful to police officers, and Judy happen to be one. If Nick was in her custody, then fine. Juliet would have to wait. She was starting to wonder who exactly was supposed to be coming?

They all sat awkwardly staring at each other for about twenty minutes before there was a knock at the door. Judy opened it and the sand cat from Leo's place walked in. Juliet didn't even hear the warning beep before her collar shocked her. She cringed and hopped up shouting, "NO, NO, NO, NO, no way….."

Leo followed the sand cat. He looked at Juliet so sadly that she just burst into tears and pressed herself against the wall. She couldn't even look at him. She hated herself for not realizing her feelings earlier, but it was too late now. Leo moved across the room for her, but Nick stopped him with a serious look on his face.

Nick cleared his throat and said, "Juliet…this is Abigail. She works for me. So does Leo. I asked Leo to keep tabs on you while you were tracking me and to report to Abby, that is why she was at his house. He was telling her where you guys had been and what you had talked about. This whole thing is just a silly misunderstanding. See…everything is fine."

Juliet stopped crying and looked to her left. A pile of couch cushions was laying there. She picked up two of them and started hurling them at Nick. "You…stupid…dumb….fox. Do you have any idea what I have been through? And you!" She pointed at Leo.

She hopped over the couch and out the door. Her reaction was so sudden no one tried to stop her. She didn't want to hear any more of it. Fine, he wasn't in a relationship. He was still keeping tabs on her, and for how long? How much of it was genuine? She was stomping around outside looking for her pack when he came round the corner in the dark.

"What do you want Leo?" She found her pack and huffed at him.

"To apologize. There is a reason I was doing this. We are doing something here. It is more than protecting Nick." He made a step toward her. She considered bodily harm. Her collar revealed her thinking.

"Like what?"

"Like trying to get rid of collars. For every predator in Zootopia."

That did it. Her entire body went numb. The concept just eluded her. She couldn't comprehend how something like that would be accomplished. How did Leo get in on it? All she could say was, "What?"

He moved a little closer. "We may have figured out how to get rid of collars. For everyone. Not just here at the park, but for everyone in Zootopia. Even for you, Juliet. That is why I am doing this."

She fell onto the grass. She started to take deep breaths, her collar beeped. It was all too much to take, too much to handle. She was already weak from repeated shocks, and from getting knocked out, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Leo put his hands up and said, "hold on a sec." He ran back into the office. Juliet was too weak and numb to go anywhere anyway. He returned with one of the remote things. He knelt next to Juliet and held it up to her collar. She liked when he was close, it made her feel better. Her collar beeped and died. Juliet inhaled and grabbed onto Leo. She sobbed uncontrollably. She would get him for everything he put her through later, right now it didn't matter. He didn't move at first, but after a moment he embraced her and they sat that way for some time in the dark.

After she was done she said, "You ever tell anyone I cried like that, I will hurt you."

He laughed and put his chin on her head. "Never. So will you come back inside and listen to them? I finally convinced them to trust you and then you break into Nick's office. They are all impressed and absolutely terrified of you. Except Finnick. He likes you."

When they got back into the office everyone watched Juliet as though she were a bomb about to go off. She was tempted to scream 'boo', but she didn't have the energy. She found a seat and plopped down. Leo stood nearby her awkwardly. She grabbed his paw and pulled him down next to her. Not too close, but nearby. He got her into this after all.

She looked at everyone and said, "Well, talk!"

Chapter 15 – Because

Nick started, "So we think that we know who makes the collars and that we might know who runs the company that makes the collars, and that we could possibly be able to take them down. In the process, that would shut down all the collars in Zootopia."

Judy rolled her eyes, "What he is trying to say is that we think SafariCorp is making the collars. The paperwork about who runs SafariCorp is really vague on who actually runs the company. They control the collars with towers all over the city that link up to a main building in the center of City Central. If we can take out the tower and SafariCorp at the same time, then all of the collars will turn off."

Abigail continued, "At that point we will spread word on the street that preds don't need their collars anymore. Then prey can see that its useless to start it all back up. IF they don't see, then they have a bunch of angry, suppressed preds on their hands."

Finnick chimed in, "Either way, collars don't come back if they go down."

Juliet absorbed all of the information. All she saw were holes. Where was SafariCorp? How do they bring it down? How exactly do they bring the tower down? She closed her eyes and said, "There are a lot of what-ifs."

Nick said, "I built Wilde-times on a maybe. We can do it. Especially with you on board. We were trying to keep law enforcement out, but since I decided to work with Carrots. I broke my own rule. "

Juliet perked her ears up, "Carrots? Seriously? Is that what everyone kept talking about? The rabbit? Holy cannoli…I need sleep." She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

Judy glared at Nick and her nose twitched at him, he shrugged and half-smiled at her. Judy looked at Juliet and said, "Well you should know those guys at your hostile were definitely from SafariCorp. I am very sorry that you got kicked out of there because of it."

Leo looked at Juliet and said in a low tone, "You can still stay in my spare room if you want to, y'know, now that you know that Abigail was just there getting a report."

Abigail hopped over the couch and leaned over Juliet in a suggestive way, "If you are worried love, don't be. I don't bat for his team. There was no fuzzy business going on. I just caught him doing that ninja nonsense that he does."

Juliet flushed. She had never been hit on by a female, but oddly it put her mind at ease, completely. She shook her head that she understood Abigail's inference and watched her walk away. Juliet chuckled and said to Leo, "Yeah, I am definitely crashing on your couch. I need sleep, badly. I ran into Kansas today on top of everything else."

Leo nodded his understanding and said, "Yeah. You need sleep." Leo grabbed her paw and they got up and made for the door; saying their goodbyes.

Finnick asked, "Hey, who is Kansas?"

Juliet groaned, "I will tell you some other time. He is just a mega creep." Finnick nodded.

Leo said his goodbyes to everyone and they left. She made for the way she came in and Leo grabbed her paw. He said, "There is an easier way, c'mon."

Turns out there was a staircase stashed behind a telephone booth near the office. Had Juliet known she would have come in that way. She lay her head against the window when they got into the car. As Leo went to start it he stopped and asked, "Hey, where is your bike?"

She chuckled weakly, "I dumped it. Like, crashed. It's under an overpass near Hill st. It's been a bit of a day."

"No kidding. You collar is going to turn on in a minute. Just be careful, okay?" He started the car. The vibration of the vehicle lulled her to sleep. She didn't remember him taking her out of the car, or putting her on the couch. She also didn't remember him putting a pillow under her head or a blanket over her.

She was dreaming. Faces of mammals. Prey, predator. She couldn't tell them apart. They were all smiling, happy. Everyone was happy, together. She was walking through Zootopia and it was different. No one looked at her with fear, no one was wearing a collar. Where was she? Some kind of festival, there was confetti falling. She was holding paws with someone…she turned around…Leo? He was smiling ear to ear at her…he pointed up at a banner. She tried to read it but she couldn't make out what was written. All she knew was that she felt happy.

She woke to the smell of food, her stomach growled and she obeyed. Peeking over the couch, she perked her ears up and asked, "Share?"

Leo laughed and said, "Duh, we're roommates now. You're cleaning up though."

"Nice." She hopped over the couch, careful not to catch her paw and peeked at what he was making. Some kind of meat with peppers. It smelled great. She made coffee. After food and caffeine, she felt way better than she had the night before.

Leo was leaned back in his chair and had a look like he wanted to have a serious conversation again. Juliet braced herself, but Leo's phone made its 'waaaatchaaa' noise. He got up and checked it, reading while he walked back to the table. He clicked to dial someone. Juliet looked out of the window at the sandy dunes of Sahara square.

Leo said into the phone, "Hey, Judy. What's up?"

Juliet perked her ears to the conversation. From what she could hear, they had found a link to SafariCorp. A cover company being used to launder money into illegal research on collars. Leo asked, "What is the place called?"

Juliet couldn't believe what she heard, so she stole the phone from Leo and asked, "Say again?"

Judy responded, "Juliet?"

"yeah, just say that again…"

"The Tomcat Lounge. Some Club in Tundratown."

"Shave me, you are kidding." She handed the phone back to Leo and walked out of the room. Leo told Judy he would call her back, hung up and followed Juliet. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "What is it?"

"You remember when I said I ran into Kansas yesterday?"

He was taken aback, "Yeah?"

"Well he invited me for a drink at his new club. Guess what the name was?"

Leo tapped his fist against the wall, "The Tomcat Lounge?"

She crossed her arms and clicked her tongue, ducking under his arm to the living room. She got back under the covers and put them over her head. She wanted to just disappear. Once they found out she had a connection to Kansas, she was going to have to talk to the creep, and she knew it. Her collar beeped. She sighed.

Leo sat on the floor next to the couch and leaned against it. She could hear his claw clicking on his phone screen, he was texting. Probably telling them about Kansas. She snuck her paw out from under the covers as sneakily as she could and snatched his phone; pulling in under the blanket with her. Leo yelled, "hey!" She made no response.

He tapped on the blanket. "Can I get that back?"

She said, "No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Juliet, please give back my phone."

"Make me."

He got up and left the room. She looked at his phone screen. It was locked of course; in some complicated pattern she wasn't going to figure out. A text popped up in the corner, this one said Nick in the 'from' space. She stayed under the blanket. She still hadn't decided if she was going to help them or not. Another text appeared, also from Nick. She chuckled, the fox was impatient, too bad. She had Leo's phone. Where was he?

She threw back the covers to look for him. She barely saw his outline before she was blasted with water from a squirt gun. She bristled from head to paw and her collar shocked her. All she squeaked out was, "What the…"

Leo laughed maniacally; amused with himself. Juliet handed him the phone, defeated. He handed her a towel he had stashed nearby in return. She started toweling off and preening her tail. It wasn't often that Leo fought back, but he got her this time.

He looked over the texts in his phone while she dried off. After a few minutes he sighed and said, "Nick wants to call a meeting with everyone. Including you."

Chapter 16 – The Tomcat Lounge

Juliet had reluctantly agreed to the meeting. They got there before everyone else and Leo enjoyed regaling Nick with the story of blasting Juliet with the squirt gun. Juliet was not so amused by the story, and was picking at the edge of the chair with her claws.

Nick's reply was, "If I know anything about females, you have it coming. From her reputation, it's not going to be pretty." He was chewing on Pawpsicle stick. Juliet actually smiled, the guy was funny at least. Leo looked a little worried.

Juliet remarked, "Watch it fox, once I get the go ahead from the bunny, you're on the list too." She smiled at him. Nick stopped chewing on the stick.

Everyone arrived and settled into the office. It was dusty and had an old sofa, three chairs, a barstool, and a desk covered in unorganized papers. Surprisingly it was Abigail that started the conversation, "So, we have come across some info. We found a cover operation for SafariCorp. We may have a lead to figure out who is running the whole shebang. There is a catch. It just so happens this lead is an enemy of a particular feline member of our little troupe. It gets better, he also happens to want a piece of her in that way."

Juliet made a gagging noise, "His name is Kansas. He told me himself that he bought into the place. Invited me for a drink, among other things."

Abigail continued, "I have an idea. After a little recon I have discovered the lounge is a less that reputable establishment."

Nick coughed, "strip joint"

Judy elbowed him. Abigail cleared her throat and continued, "So to get in there and get the information we need us girls are going to need to look less than…"

Juliet waved her paws, "Whoa, whoa…us girls? Are you asking me to actually talk to Kansas voluntarily? I am not sure I am capable of that with my collar working. I get shocked when he hits on me, you really have no idea."

Finnick took his sunglasses off and rustled around his toolbox for a minute before saying, "I might be able to disable your collar for an hour or more if you need it. It won't be easy, and it won't be a sure thing. We need the info. We can't fight a shadow."

Juliet sighed. "Shave me. Fine. As long as the bunny and the cat are going with me. I am not going alone."

Leo put his paw on her arm, "You don't have to do this."

"Yeah, I do. I am in this now. It's a chance to change things. Maybe what happened to me won't ever happen again."

Leo flinched, "I haven't heard you talk about that in years."

She closed her eyes, "Don't get choked up about it. Let's do this."

Leo had to work, so Juliet went with Judy and Abigail to Abigail's home. Judy was just as nervous as she was. Apparently this was the sort of place that Abigail was known to frequent, so she had plenty of attire.

She put Judy in a sparkly blue top that came to a v at the bottom, and tight black pants. She put Juliet in a slinky black dress with a slit up the side. Juliet complained about wearing a dress. Abigail explained that it was the only thing she had in her size, she was the tallest of the three. On Juliet it came to mid-knee, on Abigail it was floor-length. It would serve its purpose.

They left for Tundratown in Abigail's car. Juliet had to duck a bit. She was not accustomed to being the bigger one, it was a bit of a switch. Before they got out, Abigail disabled Juliet's collar as Finnick had instructed. They all looked at each other; they were scared to death, but ready to go.

There was a line outside of the lounge. Judy and Abigail went to get in the line, but Juliet knew better. She sauntered up to the bouncer, waving to the girls to follow her. She put on a fake smile and batted her eyes at the wolf at the door. He looked down at her wordlessly. She said sweetly, "Can you let Kansas know that Juliet is here with two of her friends?"

The wolf got on a radio and very quickly let them in ahead of the whole line. She gave the wolf a wink and they went in. Judy looked a Juliet in disbelief, Abigail giggled and said, "You weren't kidding when you said this guy was out for you. This should be interesting."

The music was very loud, and there were flashing lights everywhere. It made her head hurt to watch most of it. She tried to avoid looked at the cougar on stage with nothing on but her fur. Judy had her paw over her face. Juliet scanned the crowd looking for a cowboy hat when she heard, "Hey, purty thang, I knew you couldn't stay away forever."

All three of them turned to the right to see Kansas in a black outfit studded in rhinestones. He sparkled in all of the lights. They walked over to him and Juliet leaned in to him to say, "It is really loud in here, is there somewhere more…private we can go?"

"Oh, anything for you, sweet thang." He looked her up and down like a piece of meet and put his paw on the small of her back to lead her out of the room. Judy and Abigail both dragged their jaws across the floor at his behavior. Juliet felt like she could vomit or run, or vomit and run.

He led them to a VIP room. The room was lined with red velvet seats and there was a glass table in center with a bottle of liquor on ice. There were three glasses ready to go for them. They each sat down. Juliet sat next to Kansas, reluctantly.

He poured them each a glass and asked, "So to what do I owe this most pleasant occasion?"

Juliet finished her entire glass and set it on the table. She flicked her ear and said, "I was curious about your new venture. Bounty hunting doesn't tend to pay enough to get into business. Do you have a silent partner, Kansas."

He leaned back against the cushion and scooted closer to her, "You're getting me all tingly talking about partners, sugar. How did you know?"

The girls just sat, flabbergasted. Neither of them touched their glasses or moved. Juliet flicked her eyes to them to see if them would at least breathe…nothing. She sighed and replied, "Well, word on the street is that you are getting involved with SafariCorp."

Kansas darkened."Hm. You are too smart for your own good, darling. I like that about you. Dynamite. Why does any of this matter to you, huh? And who are these lovely ladies you have brought with you this evening?"

Juliet thought fast and replied, "They are to make up for handcuffing you in the cold, see. I thought you might like them. You two want to come over here." She nodded her head toward Kansas. She hoped they would get the hint.

Judy jumped up, she seemed to understand, and she grabbed Abigail up and they came over. Judy led Abigail to one side of Kansas and she went to the other. Juliet stood up in front of him.

He said, "Ooh boy, this is getting spicy. I knew you were something; I just didn't know what."

Juliet leaned toward Kansas with a smile and said, "Now."

Judy grabbed one of his arms, and seeing her, Abigail grabbed the other, knocking his drink to the floor. Juliet took a large step and put pressure on his family jewels. She growled and said, "So here is how this is going to go, Kansas. You are going to tell me who is running SafariCorp, or I am going to crush the boys like a couple of grapes."

He looked at the three of them and said, "Wow. You are one heck of a girl. I will give you the info on one condition."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "What?"

He leaned forward as far as he could and whispered, "You gotta kiss me."

She laughed, "You are kidding."

He leaned back. "One kiss, I will tell you anything you want. Though, if I am right. Which I always am, you are pure as peach pie. You haven't touched or been touched, am I right? It would be your first kiss?"

Both of the girls scowled and grabbed ahold of him harder, he didn't seem to notice. He had locked onto Juliet. He was right. She had never kissed anyone. It would be her first kiss. Was it worth it? Was her first kiss worth the freedom of every predator in Zootopia? Even Kansas?

*Post update line* Chapter 17

"Well, what do you say, darling? Fair trade?" He smiled at her. It made her fur stand on end.

She looked away and said, "Judy, Abigail…let him go." They looked at her with puzzled expressions and let him go.

He shook his arms out and straightened his shirt, he put a paw up and curled his finger to beckon her to him. She could feel anger and disgust inside her. All she could think of was Leo. She put the thought from her head and lunged toward Kansas.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and put her knee into his chest. She planted the kiss on him. He put everything he had into it. His hand tried to travel, but she swatted it away. He smiled beneath the kiss and she moved back and wiped her muzzle.

He had a lusty grin on his face and said, "Aww, what a taste of heaven. A bit of paradise. "

"Spill"

Kansas lifted his hat up with his thumb and said, "A deal is a deal. You're looking for a jackal named Kade. SafariCorp is based out of the building that has all them sparkly green leaves on it. I got what I wanted, I don't need them anymore. You change your mind now that you got a taste o' sugar sweetheart, you know where to find me." He winked at Juliet.

Juliet went to walk out of the room, but before she could leave Judy jumped up and slapped Kansas across the face. She pointed at him and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself, as an officer of the ZPD, I will have my eye on you."

Kansas looked utterly flabbergasted. The girls left in much better spirits after Judy did that. They went back to Wilde Times and rested in Nicks office. She was hoping that Nick was able to use the information they got. All she could do was stare out the window and think about what Leo was going to think about her.

Abigail brought her a cup of warm tea and sat next to her. She put her paw on her back and said, "Now I don't pretend to know anything about males, but I know that anyone that cares about somebody has love and understanding for them. From what I have seen from Leo, he is crazy about you. Just tell him the truth, he should understand. Don't beat yourself up for doing what you thought was right. After all, that is what he was doing all along."

She looked at Abigail and said, "You're right. He always does what is right. If there is anyone that is going to understand, it's gonna be Leo, right?"

"That boy makes the rest of us feel like we outta go to church on Sunday." They enjoyed a laugh together.

Nick stormed into the office and said, "Well, you all look lovely." That comment met with glares from all three females in the room. He immediately changed the subject. "That info checks out. Carrots looked up the board of directors for SarfariCorp and there's our Jackel." He plopped into a spinning chair and put on a satisfied grin.

Juliet turned around and asked, "I have a question. What is in it for you? Why does a fox give an anything about any of this?"

Nick looked up at her and the smug look on his face faded, he sighed and got up from the chair. He stood next to her and replied, "Everybody asks me that. I don't go into detail but, let's say we have more in common that you might think."

Juliet caught the meaning. She looked into the teacup and said, "Your father?"

"He checked out. Then one day he shorted out. I happened to be the closest thing." He looked at his claws like it was nothing.

Shorting out was something that Juliet had heard of. It was when a mammal loses their mind from being shocked with a collar. Too many times, just the right time, no one is sure. They haul them off to some loony bin somewhere and no one sees them again. The problem is, someone usually gets hurt in the process, usually several someone's. The press calls it an 'unfortunate side effect' of the collars.

She inhaled and said, "Well that answers that. So, how did Leo get wrapped up in this? He doesn't exactly fit the bill."

Nick laughed he seemed happy to change the subject, "Oh ninja boy? He was wandering around the park one day and asked for a job. He kept coming back every day for like six months before I finally got tired of hearing from him and gave him a broom. I thought that would get rid of him. After a while, he overheard us and wanted in. It just kind of happened. Not nearly as exciting as his best friend. You guys remind me of carrots and I in a lot of ways."

"Oh yeah?"

Judy perked an ear up to their conversation. Juliet and Nick turned toward her.

"Oh yeah. Carrots wants to be a hero and no one believes in her. I am a fox, and I am adorable, so I get away with everything. I also get into a little bit of trouble from time to time. You also have a remarkably short fuse, just like Carrots." Judy glared at Nick, who laughed and continued, "Also…I have a bike, too. Speaking of which, Leo had me get your bike out from under the overpass. It needs work."

She bounced a bit, it did make her happy to hear her bike was in one piece. "Where is he? My bike?"

"At Richards house, he does all the work on mine. Might take a while, and consider the cost for the repairs taken care of, it's a favor for the info. Your bike is a he?"

"Will do, he better not put a scratch on it. Yes, and you are still on my list."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have trust issues?"

"This coming from a fox? I trust mammals after they come through for me, not before. Okay, maybe once or twice"

Judy interjected, "Nick, she is a bounty hunter. Her job is to bring in untrustworthy mammals. Of course she has trust issues. You should see some of the mammals she goes after, and she can't even use a tranquilizer."

Juliet added, "I actually wanted to be an officer, but prey aren't allowed. So bounty hunting was the next best thing. I make it work."

Judy put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, which made her shirt sparkle, "The ZPD could use an officer like you."

Juliet couldn't help herself, "Well if they are recruiting rabbits now, things must be bad. What possessed you to be an officer?"

"I always wanted to be an officer, since I was a kid! It hasn't been easy. I didn't realize that things were this bad until I got here. I want to make the world a better place, and working with Nick seems to be the best way to do that. Predators deserve the same chance as anyone else at a happy life. It's not possible with a tazer strapped to your neck. I had Finnick put one on me for an hour, I couldn't take it!"

Juliet smiled, "No kidding. That's brave."

Nick laughed, "Her legs kept kicking when it would go off."

Judy narrowed her eyes at him, "It didn't help that you kept calling me cute over and over again, trying to set the thing off!"

Nick replied, "I just wanted to make sure you got an authentic experience, Carrots"

They continued back and forth for a minute that way. Juliet listened, amused by the banter. Abigail sipped on tea and watched as well. Juliet leaned over and asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

Abigail replied, "Oh constantly. Nick loves giving her a hard time. She just feeds into it. Do you need a ride home?"

"I would love one, but I don't have a key yet. I have to wait for Leo to get off work. I think he gets off work in an hour or so. Hey, Nick!"

He stopped and looked at her. She asked him, "What exactly are you planning to do next?"

He replied, "I am going to call some muscle and see if I can't have a friendly conversation with our new jackal friend or someone that knows him really well."

Judy warned, "Niiick" and they were off back and forth again. Juliet shook her head and looked back out of the window.

At least the fox didn't want her to do it. She really didn't feel like being a team player right now. She had already taken one for the team. All she wanted right now was a change of clothes and a shower. She was intrigued at the idea of team muscle. She caught herself imagining Finnick interrogating someone. She amused herself with the thought.

The hour went by glacially slow. Nick and Judy's banter kept her at least marginally entertained. Abigail was completely enthralled by it. She found it hilarious, often adding to the conflict.

Nicks phone vibrated and he looked at the text. He shook the phone at Juliet and said, "Wonderboy is waiting upstairs for you. Give him a kiss for me would you."

Juliet sniggered at him, "I knew there was something off about you, fox."

He made a choking noise and said, "Not what I meant…" Judy and Abigail laughed and said goodbye.

Chapter 18

He had his head against the steering wheel when she got in the car. He didn't look up at her until she opened the door. When he looked over at her his eyes opened wide and dilated. He said, "What are you wearing?"

She sat in the seat an shut the door, saying, "I really don't want to talk about it. Did Nick tell you anything?"

He just kept staring at her and didn't respond. She waved a paw in front of his face and he finally blinked. He swallowed and said, "Uh, I talked to Finnick. He said you got some information that was really helpful. Otherwise no. What happened?"

She crossed her arms and said, "Can we just go home? I will tell you about it after a shower. I need to wash the smell of creep off of me. I might need to borrow a change of clothes too, I have nothing clean."

"Uh, yeah sure. Wow. You never called the hostile home."

She looked at him as he started the car. She tried to remember back. There had to be sometime in all the years she stayed there that she called that place home? Huh, maybe not.

She caught Leo peeking sideways glances at her the whole drive home. She pulled the dress down, she felt really awkward dressed like that. She practically ran into the shower when they got there.

After getting a shirt and sweatpants from Leo to wear, she settled onto the couch and took a deep breathe. She felt a million times better. Leo was watching a dubbed over kung fu movie. There was a gazelle and a rhino fighting.

He muted the TV and asked her, "So are you going to tell me what happened? Judy and Abigail both texted me and told me that they are going to cause serious bodily harm to Kansas. Judy isn't the violent type, so something happened. You aren't getting out of this one. I locked the doors and windows."

She sighed. Closing her eyes she started telling him the story of what happened in the lounge. The further into the story she got, the more tense he became. When she got to the part about Kansas asking for the kiss in exchange for information, his collar beeped. She asked him, "You want me to keep going? Or do you get the drift?"

He growled, "No…tell me all of it. I want to know so when I find that son of a stray I know exactly why I am strangling the life out of him." His collar shocked him and he put his paws up to it in pain. Juliet leaned across the couch to help, but there was nothing she could do.

She watched him take time to control his breathing for a few minutes. He finally asked, "That was your first kiss wasn't it?"

She started to cry, "Yes. That is exactly why he asked for it. I decided that it was worth it."

Leo leaned forward on the couch and rubbed his paws on his face. "You know. I started helping them to feel like I was making a difference. Then I wanted you to be a part of it too. Ever since I started trying to bring you in, you have lost everything you had. Your home, your bike, your…your losing too much Juliet. I never wanted this. You just keep going for it, you keep fighting for it when anyone else would give up. It's not fair."

She was sobbing now, "Not fair for who Leo? This is what it is. You brought me in, and now I get to fight to actually make a change for something. Not just a criminal here or there, but actually change the world. That is worth anything."

He looked at her and then out of the window of the living room. He said softly, "Do you remember what I said after we picked you up from the hospital when you Dad beat you to a pulp?"

She inhaled, her collar sent a warning. She felt the pain of old scars, but she replied, "You said that I never had to go back, that it wasn't my fault. Broken preds break things."

"It is still true."

"What do you mean, Leo? I don't understand." She didn't, he was looking at her now. He had a strange, soft look in his eyes. She remembered sitting in his living room and hearing him say those words. They meant so much to her then, they helped her understand why her father would cause her pain. But why say them now?

"Juliet. You are broken. I don't want to see you break anything. Kansas took something from you today that you can never get back, but you can have mine." He sat up and leaned in toward her face.

Her entire body screamed for her to move closer to him. She understood his meaning. So many years and he had never loved anyone either. She could feel his breath on her face. He put his paw behind her ear, and she felt all of the pain she didn't know she had, fall away. Her muzzle met his and the world went away.

All of her life she fought for good in the world, not knowing what love was. In this moment she felt and part of her bloom. A light inside of her grew brighter until she felt warm and safe. She reached up and embraced Leo in the kiss. He had been watching over her all of this time, just waiting for her. She had been such a fool to run from him.

His embrace tightened and he pulled her closer. Her warmth grew and she felt it begin to brew into an energy. The feeling of him close was addicting, she wanted to melt into him. The kiss deepened and her collar beeped.

Damn.

They both stopped, breathing heavily. Leo whispered, "We should stop. At least until we sync our collars. Is that okay?"

Juliet pulled away slightly and nuzzled his neck, "No, but it will have to do."

He grabbed ahold of her and pulled her onto his chest. He pushed play on the TV, not letting go of her. She loved the closeness of him, and began to purr. He chuckled and kept his paw around her until she fell asleep. She was the happiest she had ever been in her life.

"Wake up sleepyhead." Leo's voice rang in her head. She stretched out on the couch and sat up. It was well into daylight outside. Leo sat next to her and handed her a cup of coffee, kissing her on the ear and sitting next to her really closely and placing a paw on her back.

She smelled the coffee, sipped it and leaned onto him. "You're really enjoying this aren't you, Leo."

He sipped his own coffee and said, "Does it make me a jerk to say, Ooooh yeaah."

She giggled and replied, "No. I am curious exactly how long you have had a crush on me."

He laughed and spilled a little coffee, but responded, "Pretty much since the fifth grade. You are not an easy mammal to love."

She swirled the coffee in the mug and said, "I wish it were different."

He nuzzled her, "I wouldn't have you any other way. You are absolutely amazing Juliet. Does this make us official? I would really love to make us official. It would make me really, really happy."

She furrowed her brow and said, "Leo's girlfriend? Hmmm…I don't know."

He sat silently, she took it as a bad sign and corrected the mistake, "Of course it's official, idiot. Geez. You need to lighten up." She poked him in the ribs, making him spill coffee.

He exhaled in relief. Then he got that look on his face that meant he wanted to say something serious.

Juliet sighed, "What is it?"

He said, "Nothing."

"Liar. You have that dumb look on your face that you get. The serious Leopold face."

He smiled and inhaled, "Well, I was hoping you would want to sync up collars…just in case…y'know. So stuff like last night doesn't go wrong. I don't want to be responsible for causing you any pain."

"Uh huh, sure. That is why, totally." She rolled her eyes and got up to use the restroom. He stood up to go after her with worried look on his face. She stopped him, "Leo…I was kidding. I have to pee. Gimme a minute."

She used the opportunity to escape and breath for a moment. There was usually one reason to sync up collars, to mate. When collars are synced in means that if they are within three or four feet of each other and they are activated they will not go off. You have to go in and apply for a license to have your collar synced. It basically was a billboard announcing you are having hanky-panky with someone. She took a deep breath. This was Leo, it wasn't like he was going to want to jump right into all of that. He was male though.

She splashed her face with cold water to help clear her mind and made a decision. When she came out of the restroom, Leo was leaning against the couch with his coffee, looking nervous. It was cute. She walked over to him and put her paws on the back of the couch on either side of him and said, "Yes."

He asked, "Yes what?"

"Yes, I will sync my collar with yours."

He grabbed her in a hug and spun her around. When he put her down he kissed her. She didn't realize he was so affectionate, but she liked it. He looked at her hopefully and said, "today?"

She laughed, "Jeez, what are you in hurry for? It takes weeks to get a license."

He pulled her close and bopped her on the nose. "Not when you know two fantastic collar technicians. They can sync our collars by dinner. We should get you some clothes and stuff too, since you are going to be living here. Let's get ready."

Juliet was spinning. Leo was never this giddy. Was he really so happy she was returning his affections? She asked, "Don't you work?"

"Called in. Jaz understands. I told her what was going on" He was in the other room.

Juliet grabbed her coffee and sipped it. It was strange to think that maybe she was happy. She had Leo. She had found something to fight for, something worthwhile. Sure, they were going to sync up collars, but what if they didn't have them at all?

What if she could be with Leo in freedom? If she didn't have to worry about anything, stop for anything? Complete bliss. That was worth fighting for. As soon as she was able, she was getting out there and taking down this SafariCorp. Now that she had something to protect, there was nothing going to stop her from saving every predator in Zootopia.

End 


	2. Chapter 2 - Avoidance

Chapter 2 – Avoidance

The glass of the bottle made a pleasant click against her claws when she loaded it in her backpack. Papers in hand she got onto her bike. The ride into the center of the city was uneventful, and it left her mind time to wander.

It was easy for many predators to take the easy way out. There were two ways to go. One was to get into monotonous assembly line or manual labor work that required no mental strain at all. The other was to bury yourself deep into the underbelly of the city, smuggling and running from the reality that they were strapped into the collars I the first place. The vast majority of predators fell into the easy way out category.

However, there were those that fought against it. They chose to try to be a mammal and have a life despite the collar. They didn't let the collar 'tame' them or 'domesticate' them or any of the other descriptors the advertisements used. Juliet like to think she fought it, she really tried. She and her friend Leo. He actually had a job that required thinking, he was a bartender.

He had an agreement with the owner, Jazmine. She knew he would occasionally get shocked by his collar and break things or shock a customer by accident. She was okay with it because anyone who frequented the bar knew that they were likely to be verbally assaulted by Jazmine herself anyway, so it just added a little slapstick to the mix. Leo was always a bit of a ham, so it all worked out.

She chained her bike to the loading dock out back and went in the employee entrance. Jazmine didn't like her bringing deliveries in front. She heard Leo and Jazmine arguing.

"Look Kung Fu master, tap the keg and quit whining." Jazmine screeched.

"I was supposed to go home an hour ago, I am gonna miss the movie. C'mon." Leo whined back.

"Hey, I don't pay you to be a…" Juliet rounded the corner and leaned on the door frame. Jazmine and Leopold said happily in unison, "Juliet!"

She smiled, "Hey! You guys sound like an old married couple."

Jazmine was a spunky little skunk that always wore denim and rock band t-shirts. Her bark was her bite. Leopold looked impressive, but he couldn't hurt a fly. He practiced Tai Chi to keep his emotions under control and loved to watch Kung Fu movie marathons. He wanted to learn martial arts, but he wasn't confident enough to do it.

At the moment he was slouching over a keg pathetically while Jazmine yelled at him. He looked tired, he must have been loading in deliveries all morning. She knew he hated tapping kegs, not sure why, but he always complained.

She shifted her backpack off of her shoulder and pulled out the bottle of Vodka. Jazmine jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "Yay! My vodka. Gonna have some stupid drunk a-holes spending stupid money to-nite". She took the bottle and headed for the front of the bar. Jaz stuck her head back in and looked at Leo, "That doesn't get you out of tappin that keg, do it or I will make you share tips."

Leo stood up and grabbed the tap kit. Juliet walked over next to him and asked, "You want help?"

He shook his head, "No. I just hate getting sprayed. It doesn't always happen, but when it does it gets my fur sticky and everyone looks at me like I am a homeless alcoholic."

"Are you a homeless alcoholic?"

"Very funny. I work in this hole to keep my apartment, which still has a spare room, by the way."

"You know I want figure something out myself. I never had help before, don't want it now. Why, you can't get a boyfriend?"

His hand slipped and beer sprayed the both of them, Juliet grabbed the tap and put in back in place. Leo wrung his shirt out while Juliet finished up the tap. She laughed and asked, "Did you check if it was engaged before you started? Prey love to mess with preds, you should always check."

"No. I was too busy listening to you call me gay, again." His collar beeped.

Juliet darkened. "Sorry. I am going to go wash up and head to the ZPD. I am gonna see if I can pick up a bounty. Maybe I will catch you later Leo." She walked to the edge of the loading dock and jumped off.

Leo ran to the edge of the dock and shouted after her, "I am not mad at you." She could hear him grunt as his collar zapped him. She knew it was coming. She bailed because she didn't want to see it. She shoved her helmet on and kicked her bike to life. Not caring that she was covered in beer, she sped off away toward the hostile.


	3. Chapter 3 - Bounty

Chapter 3 – Bounty

After getting out of the shower, she looked at her phone. There was a text from Leo. It was a sad cat face emoji. She smiled out of the side of her mouth. They were a little old for emojis, she thought. She searched through and found a sad face one and added, "We r cool. See u 2 nite." After all, she was the one who had bailed. She felt bad about the joke too, it was supposed to be harmless. She was off her game a little.

She shook it off and left for the ZPD. Maybe a good bounty hunt would get her back on track. A ride through the city on her bike always cleared her head. The warm wind dried her fur on the way to city central.

Juliet walked through the front doors and waved at the receptionist. The receptionist was a salty water buffalo that disliked answering phones, even though that was the bulk of his job after getting mauled on duty. Juliet took a sharp left toward the chief's office. There was a pin board there that had bounties and bail jumpers posted for licensed bounty hunters.

It didn't take much to get a license. You had to learn how to read a mammal their rights and swear to use non-lethal force when apprehending. You also had to learn jurisdictions and borough lines. Along with a few minor details about how and where you can apprehend and how to properly book a mammal. Ultimately having a license meant that what you did held up in court. It made things easier for the ZPD. It was also the only way a predator could do anything close to law enforcement. That is exactly why Juliet loved it so much.

The board was surprisingly bare. There was only one job, and it said, "See Bogo." She thought, well woohoo. That guy is about as much fun as an infomercial. She took the page and knocked on the door. She could hear a gruff voice mumble something that sounded like, "comin".

She opened the door and walked in. His desk was as tall as she was, so she jumped up onto the chair in front of him and stood up. It put her eye to eye with Bogo. He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Clearing her throat she tossed the paper on his desk, "Ill take it."

He snorted, "Don't you want to know what it is?"

"I gotta eat. Doesn't matter much what it is."

"You may change your mind, Juliet. This one came from the higher ups. Not your usual jumper. This is a tail and apprehend."

She turned her head and flicked her ear, curious, "Tail and apprehend? Don't you have detectives for that?"

"They insisted that this be a bounty. The perp gets jumpy. Gave my newest recruit a hard time yesterday, she ended up in wet cement."

Juliet chortled, "Sounds like you need better recruits, Bogo. I think I can handle it. So what is he?"

Bogo looked as ruffled as a buffalo gets, "A fox"

Juliet smiled, "This is going to be fun. Give me the file, I will find him. I think there is more to it though, isn't there?"

"Yes. We need proof that he has tampered with his collar in some way."

"You can't do that? Can you?"

Bogo stood up and grabbed a file out of his cabinet, "He must have found some way to do it. I imagine this is why they need the proof. They want to figure it out and bring him in."

"Huh." Juliet tried to sound as nonbiased as possible.

Bogo caught it, they both knew it, but they both ignored it. He handed her a file. Bogo said, "They have put a two-week timer on this one, but it pays almost double the going rate. 20,000. With an extra 10,000 if you get proof of extra crimes."

Juliet took the file. She opened it, the name of the fox was Nicholas Piberus Wilde. She scanned over the file briefly before asking, "Is there anything I should know that isn't in the file, Bogo?"

Bogo was quiet a moment before saying, "We have gotten rumors off the streets that he runs some kind of predator amusement park. We don't know where. The part that makes it hard to believe is that he is rumored to be able to turn off the taming collars for the duration of a predators stay there."

Juliet closed the file slowly and leaned forward, "You are kidding me. That has to be some kind of urban legend or fairy tale or something."

"I would think so if we hadn't heard it so many times from so many arrestees. If you find this park Juliet, it would be very profitable to you to let us know about it. Be careful with this one, foxes are tricky."

She got down from the chair and laughed at Bogo, extending a hand. Bogo returned the gesture and they shook hands. She left without another word, thoughts ringing in her head. When she got to the lobby, she bumped into a rabbit. She dropped everything in her hands, and so did the rabbit.

"Oh, sorry. I was…I don't know. Just sorry." Juliet bent to pick up the file and help the bunny pick hers up as well.

The bunny looked at the picture in the file and pointed at it, saying, "That is the guy that gave me a hard time yesterday. What's he done now?"

Juliet looked at her and put her hand out, "Juliet Hunter, licensed bounty hunter."

The bunny smiled and puffed up, "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD." They shook hands. "Let me know if you need any help with that fox."

Juliet chuckled, "Will do." She watched the rabbit walk away and thought, seriously? A bunny rabbit can be an officer, but predators can't? She is gonna be a fuzzy snack for somebody. Good luck girl, you are gonna need it.

Leo had replied to her text with a happy smiley that read, "First one is on me!". That sounded like exactly what Juliet needed. She replied to Leo to meet her there, got on her bike and sped toward the bar.


	4. Chapter 4 - It's only

Chapter 4 – It's only

The bar was fairly empty. There was a female weasel smoking a cigarette at the bar, her collar blinking in the dim light. There was a group of sheep having beers and playing cards in a booth in the far corner. Jazmine's bar was sort of rare in that both predator and prey drank there. It gave the bar a particular atmosphere that Juliet always liked. Leo was drying glasses behind the bar. Great way to be a cliché, bro, Juliet thought.

She plopped into a bar seat and saluted the weasel, who nodded at her. "Hey Leo, you got a minute?" Juliet flashed him a smile.

He raised an eyebrow and put the glass away slowly and suspiciously. Juliet rolled her eyes and put the file on the bar. When Leo finally made his way over, she opened it. "Know this guy?" Leo inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly, asking carefully, "…why?".

"Because, he is my mark. Rumor is he has a theme park where he disables collars. I seem to remember you telling me a dream you had about that once, and you wanted to show me where it happened. I laughed at you, and your collar shocked you, and we stopped talking for a while. It wasn't a dream, was it Leopold?"

He slouched and put his head down, looking at the floor. "You had to use my long name. Look Juliet, that was almost a year ago. I haven't even thought about it since."

"You didn't say no. Do you know something about this?" She tried to catch his gaze.

He sighed, "Maybe. Not a lot about it. After my shift, I am off in a couple of hours. You wanna wait here? It's slow. I could use the conversation." He said the last bit hopefully.

She closed the file and put it away, saying, "Absolutely, you promised me a drink! Remember?"

He perked up and grabbed a glass. He started flipping bottles and pouring this and that into the glass with ice. He slid it to her and she took a sip. It was really good, she smiled and gave him a thumbs up. They spent the next two hours mostly talking about how much Juliet did not want to try Tai Chi, and how much Leo thought she would benefit from it.

"I find inner peace on the back of a motorcycle Leo, not by being the next karate kid. You keep doing the warrior pose in front of the bathroom mirror and I will drive down Sand St. doing sixty. To each their own." She raised her glass and finished it. Leo shook his head and grabbed the glass from her.

He pointed a finger at her and said, "You are a terrible liar. You get peace by taking down criminals. The chase is where you find peace. It just sounds bad to say it."

She flushed, she could feel her fur bristle just a little. He was sort of right, in a way. She did enjoy hunting criminals. Her collar beeped a warning. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Why don't you just get me another drink and leave me and my inner peace alone."

He did just that, and they remained quiet for the last few minutes of his shift. She met him outside. The first thing he did was apologize. It irritated her.

"Gah, why do you do that Leo? It is okay to make me angry. I get angry. You get angry. Most of the time we get electrocuted and the world goes around. You don't have to be sorry for it. You were right. I do find peace in the chase. I like to know that even though I am stuck in this stupid collar, at least I can do a little good in the world." She pulled the collar of her riding jacket up over to cover the taming collar.

Leo chuckled. "You have this way of boiling the world down. You should branch out a little. It would do you some good. So, where do you want to talk?"

"Well my place is out, since it isn't technically a place and I had to be there an hour ago to not get locked out, so your place I guess." She didn't look him in the eye. She hadn't hung out with him in nearly six months, and felt horribly guilty for it.

"Right. You wanna take my car? I will drive you to your bike in the morning." His voice had an air of pleading.

She chortled, "Sure, I won't make you ride on my deathtrap. I don't have a helmet to fit your fat head anyway."

His car was remarkably clean. He was usually pretty unkempt about his stuff, so it was strange to see it clean. It also smelled flowery. She shrugged it off. He had probably cleaned it after he got sprayed with beer.

They fought over the radio stations until Leo pulled the 'my car' card and Juliet stuck out her tongue. He looked out the window and asked, "So your bounty hunting thing, it gets you shocked a lot, huh?"

"Yep. It really isn't too bad. At least I am making some kind of difference. Makes it worth it."

"Uh huh. You keep saying that. Who are you trying to convince?"

Juliet pondered for a moment. She watched the lights of Zootopia go by in a blur. She had never stopped to wonder why she kept saying it over and over again. A knot started to form in her throat. Her collar beeped and she turned up the radio so they couldn't talk anymore. Leo didn't push it. He never really did when her collar beeped a warning, it was something she liked about him.

They pulled up to Leo's dune apartment shortly after. Juliet had managed to calm down by then. She admired the place. Dune apartments were placed so that the winds in Sahara square blew sand over the top of them in such a way that one main window remained uncovered. There were sweepers that came by regularly to dig out excess sand and keep the units from being completely buried. Otherwise it didn't seem so bad.

The inside was much nicer than she expected. The floor was a rough carpet that had sand in every corner. Probably unavoidable. Leo had various Asian decorations on the walls. There was a fan painted with a phoenix on the living room wall. He had a glass mirror in the shape of a yin yang in the hall. There was a bamboo plant in his dining area. There was a yoga mat rolled up and laid against the large window of the living area. Other than that there was the usual; couch, table, tv.

Leo went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of sodas, he handed her one and plopped on the couch. He popped the tab and chugged half of it. He looked at her and pointed at the couch. "It doesn't bite"

She made a sarcastic face and hopped over the back onto the couch. She popped her own soda and said, "So, this theme park thing. What is it?"


	5. Chapter 5 - Leo

Chapter 5 – Leo

"Hold on here Jules"

"I hate that name"

"Good. Why are you after the guy, what did he do?"

"Well…nothing technically. I am not supposed to talk about it."

"So…I am supposed to help you lock up somebody that didn't do anything…technically?"

"They wouldn't put out a bounty for this much money if he hadn't done something, I am just not always party to exactly what they did. I just get paid to catch them. Usually it's a bail jumper. Just not this time. "

No small amount of sarcasm was wasted by Leo in his response. "Right."

"Oh c'mon Leo. What is this?" Juliet put her soda down and turned to face him. He was looking at his soda with a contemplative expression. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and set his drink down too. Juliet just thought, 'oh here we go.'

He stared out the window while he spoke, "It's been months since we really hung out or did anything as friends, and you just show up expecting me to spill my guts. Honestly, as far as I know this Nick guy does good things for people at this park. I don't know if I want to help you, Juliet. You bailed after high school, we have barely been in touch since then. You only show up when you want and barely talk to me. You say I am a friend, but pretty much only when you need a punching bag or when it's convenient to be around."

Their collars beeped in unison. Leo had to know it would happen, that is why he couldn't look her in the eye. She could feel the anger welling up like a wave. She wasn't going to let him get away with it. She lurched across the couch and grabbed the sides of his face and made him look at her. His ears went back when she looked at him.

She growled and shouted, "You want to know why? You have a good thing going at that bar. You have a life, a good life going. I have a half-life skulking around hunting low lives around Zootopia because I can never actually be what I want. They strapped a collar on me and told me that I can never be what I want. I deal with that my own way, but I will never drag you down with me Leo. So quit being a crybaby about it, okay? I am your friend and I will always be your friend. You want me there? Call me. You want to hang out? Tell me! You aren't convenient, I am just trying to scrape a living out of this crap hand I was dealt…."

She didn't finish because her collar shocked her, and Leo got shocked a bit too because she had her hands on him. She spasmed with the pain. She would have fallen off of the couch if Leo hadn't caught her. He hugged her and kept apologizing over and over. She shook with the left over adrenaline and broke the hug. Adjusting her clothes, she got off of the couch and made for the door. Leo stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I know you have nowhere to go. Crash on the couch. I will tell everything about Nick in the morning, okay? I didn't mean to upset you. I just miss my friend."

The last words stopped her. She shook her head and replied, "Yeah. I am sorry too. I lost track of things. Just, don't apologize anymore…okay?"

He put two fingers up and said, "Scouts honor."

She raised her eyebrow and said, "We both know you are not a Ranger Scout."

They laughed together and Juliet felt tons better.

She awoke when the light from the sunrise hit her. Sitting up she looked over at the window. Leo was there and she could barely make out the silhouette of him doing his Tai Chi in front of it. She watched the slow movements he made. They were not nearly as clumsy or awkward as she remembered them to be. He had obviously been practicing, and his breathing was rhythmic with the movements. She watched his outline. Juliet did not remember him being quite so buff. Maybe from lugging around kegs and bottles at the bar? Whatever it was, it was working. He looked way better than the scrawny guy she remembered at the pool a year ago. Not too shabby actually.

"You're awake." He said, without breaking his movements.

"You're creepy." He had startled her. She sat up and stretched. "Are we going to talk about that bounty? I only have a couple of weeks to do it. I do have to pay my bills. It's not a nine to five gig like yours." She started folding the blanket he had lent her to sleep under. It smelled like him. It was red with gold dragons on it.

"I am almost done. There are bug tarts in the cupboard if you are hungry." He transitioned into a stance that made his thighs bulge a bit. Why did she even notice? That shock must have rattled her brain…she needed coffee.

Like reading her mind, Leo added, "And coffee above the toaster."

She squeaked, "ooh." And hopped over the couch. She caught her foot in the blanket and fell flat on her face. That broke Leo's concentration and he fell over laughing at her. She just lay there for a while. "I think I you got me hungover, or I got scrambled by the shock or something."

Leo sat cross-legged and said, "Or you just need to go around the furniture like a normal mammal."

"or that."

"You stay still so you don't break anything, yours or mine. I am going to make coffee." He got up and she watched up walk to the kitchen upside down. Yep…. definitely more buff. What was wrong with her? She needed to get going on this bounty. She was feeling weird.

She stopped looking at him and asked, "Soooo…. this Nick guy…."

Leo sighed, "Right. Well what I know is that he runs a clinic over in Happytown. That slum in the bad part of city central."

Juliet added, "I know it. I was a bridesmaid for one of the shop owners over there."

Leo shook his head and continued, "The rumor is that the clinic is a cover for the entrance to the park. The thing is that he is hardly ever there. He is a hustler and runs around scamming and skimming and pretty much making money any which way he can everywhere."

Juliet sat up and grabbed the file, she took it over to the table in the dining area. "A hustler huh? The only other bounty like that I had was a raccoon. I had to pretend to be a mark for him to get him. This might be harder than I thought."

Leo leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. He was wearing shiny blue gym shorts. His fur was darker than Juliet's and had more spots. She used to poke fun at him in school about being splattered in…well. She let the memory go and looked back at the file.

Leo asked, "So how do you start this stuff? Do you just go showing everyone a picture and ask 'have you seen this criminal?'".

"If it were that easy, they wouldn't pay so much. Actually, I will probably start with the clinic. I wish I knew what kind it was."

"I think it's a collar clinic. You know, for broken or malfunctioning collars."

"huh, I wonder if my collar shocking me in my sleep qualifies as malfunctioning."

Leo uncrossed his arms, he looked worried, "Seriously, Juliet? You didn't think that was something you should get fixed? How long has that been happening?"

"Well, I am going to go get it fixed right now. I have an appointment to get to. I will text you later."

"You aren't staying for coffee? I thought I was taking you to your bike?"

"My bike is way safer at the bar than in Happytown, I will come by to get it. Thanks Leo, you're awesome. Catch you later."

She left Leo leaning against the counter, staring at the window in his living room.


	6. Chapter 6 - I remember

Chapter 6 – I remember

The bus couldn't get there fast enough. Juliet felt like her heart could beat out of her chest. The whole experience at Leo's had her completely off her game. She jumped onto the bus and threw herself into a seat. Putting earphones in, she put on the most energetic track she had in her phone. She had to get back into the zone.

She was in total disbelief that she had lost her cool; and what was she thinking staring at him like that? This was Leo. Mr. Kung fu master, sci fi geek, can't tap a keg, Leo. Maybe she was just getting into a heat, and if that was the case, she needed to stay away from men all together. She had managed not to have a boyfriend of any sort so far, and she planned to keep that streak going.

She looked to the side to see a sheep and her daughter sitting across from her. The mother was shooting glances at Juliet, looking worried. She was twice Juliet's size, seriously, what was she worried about? Juliet did a half laugh at the lady, and waved at her daughter just to make her uncomfortable. The daughter waved back energetically and her mother looked mortified. It cheered up Juliet a little to mess with the sheep. She didn't like speciest mammals. They were the reason she was stuck in the collar in the first place.

They were the reason her parents hated themselves.

They were the reason her parents had hated her.

She sighed. She shouldn't have yelled a Leo that way. It wasn't his fault she had a crummy life. It never would be. He was the only one that ever checked on her. He was the last one she should be yelling at.

She could hear him saying that he missed her. She hadn't really gone anywhere, but she knew what he meant. It was ten years since high school. Ten years she had scraped by. Here and there she had made efforts to hang around, but it got harder and harder. Being around him just made her feel. Just feel. Happy, sad, angry. So the lengths got longer and longer.

She looked out the window and watched as the shops and homes got uglier and uglier. Mammals got on and off of the bus. She knew they were going to pass her old house. It was unavoidable. She turned up the music and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Her senior year of high school she had a good grip on her collar. It never shocked her. She and Leo were inseparable. They had plans to open a bookstore or something like that. She wanted to be a police officer and he wanted to learn martial arts. She was full of life and hope. Always singing and bouncing and trying to cheer up her parents.

They worked at a factory in town, long hours to pay bills. They may have well have been black and white. They did the same thing every day and never spoke. They rarely looked at her and her dad never looked up from the tv. When she would say hello he would just growl.

Then, the day of graduation, she told them she wanted to be a police officer. That she was going to see if she could convince them that she could do it even with her collar on. That she never got shocked and it would be okay.

That is when her father stood up. He walked over to her and all he said was, "You can never be anything that they don't let you be. All they want is for you to hurt. It's going to hurt, every day, for the rest of your life. Starting today." Then he started making it hurt. It didn't stop, not until she was unconscious.

She knew her collar beeped because everyone on the bus looked at her, she looked sideways at them and pulled her shirt up over it. She crossed her arms and sunk into the seat. She turned up the music until it was deafening and let the house go by.

Finally, the Happytown stop came up and she ran off of the bus. She stomped away without any particular direction. She just needed to move. A few blocks and some strong breathing, and she was much calmer. She looked around at the dilapidated buildings and boarded up houses. Happytown was originally supposed to be the part of town that predators were allowed to live, but it fell into disrepair when the city cut funding.

She asked around about a collar clinic. Given her state, most people had a compassionate look on their face. It worked for her, she needed to stave off suspicion that she had ulterior motives for being there. She met a wolverine that pointed her to Hill St. It was only a block over, so she didn't have to go far.

She turned the corner and bumped right into a bear. She apologized profusely and looked around him. He was standing in a very long line, about a half a block long, to get into the clinic. Raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help thinking, well that isn't suspicious at all.

She tapped on the bear's shoulder, which required tip-paw, and asked, "So, is this the line for the clinic?"

He grumbled a confirmation. Not a cuddly bear. Looking around, she tried to spot a good place to watch for her mark. The buildings were all boarded up and beaten down. If Leo was right and there was a theme park around here somewhere, where in Zootopia was it? There was no way it would fit around here.

She resigned herself to waiting in the immense line. Being stuck with her thoughts was not something she wanted today. Not after the rollercoaster she went through over the last twelve hours. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was Leo.

He texted, "Any luck?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah…stuck in line behind Pooh bear in the projects. Tons of luck. Wishing I had that coffee."

She put the phone away and bounced on her paws. Patience was not one of her virtues. She had taken a sloth bounty once, and would never do it again. Her phone vibrated again, and the line moved briefly. She took a step and looked at the phone.

"One cream or two?"

Completely puzzled, Juliet sent a question mark as a reply. She heard a cheezy martial artist sound of "Whaaaatchaaaa" from behind her. She recognized it as Leo's text alert. She whipped around and saw Leo with two coffees.

Beep. "What are you doing here?" She gawked at him incredulously.

He smiled, "I knew you were going to want that coffee, and it's my day off. I have nothing better to do."

She took the coffee and took a sip. It was perfect. I guess it was okay, she wasn't actually taking him down or anything. It was just recon, and she did feel really, really guilty about being a jerk to him the night before. Not to mention standing in line would be way better with a friend around.

"Sooo, next time you don't have to bail. I will drive you. You have issues, you know that?" He sipped his coffee and looked sideways at her.

She inhaled to retort, but just exhaled. "Yep."

It took almost two hours before they got near the clinic. Right before they went in, Juliet grabbed Leo and whispered, "If anyone asks, you are my concerned boyfriend. Otherwise I talk." He nodded his agreement and they went in.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Clinic

Chapter 7 – The Clinic

The clinic had a waiting room full of multi-sized blue plastic chairs. The floor was black and white checkered and the walls were a sterile white. There was a blue carpet with an arrow that pointed to a receptionist's desk. The desk had a sign over it that read, "check in here first" in very flowery lettering. Behind the desk sat a bubbly, chubby cheetah.

Upon approaching the desk, there was a mug that read "I heart Gazelle" as well as a snow globe which contained the likeness of the popstar. There was also a Gazelle calendar on the wall. The receptionist had a nametag that read "Clawhauser". He popped up and said, "Hello, please sign in! What are we seeing you for?"

There was no way to avoid smiling, this guy was too bubbly and energetic. Juliet answered, "My collar keeps shocking me in my dreams."

Clawhauser put his paws to his cheeks and said, "Oh! You poor thing, take a seat and we will see you and soon as we can. It's a bit of a wait, I am afraid."

"That's okay" Juliet smiled.

She found a chair as close as she could to the desk. She wanted to hear the exchange between Clawhauser and the patients. Leo kept looking at his phone, he was texting someone. She figured it was Jazmine about work. Juliet concentrated on the conversations around her.

She picked up on various issues with everyone's collars. The most common seemed to be a "short circuit". Very vague, and Clawhauser would smile and not ask questions when they said it. She was so busy paying attention to what they said that when Leo spoke she was a little startled.

"You know. For such a long line, there aren't a lot of mammals coming out of there." He didn't look up from his phone. He was probably doing it on purpose trying to be sneaky.

Juliet watched for the next ten minutes, and he was right. For every three that went in, only one came out. There was no way that many mammals would fit in the building. That qualifies as suspicious. Before she could make a decision whether or not to bail, they called her name. She looked a Clawhauser hesitantly, but Leo took her hand, just like the 'caring boyfriend' would and led her through the doors. Again, with the feeling things around Leo.

Clawhauser took her vitals and took her into a room. Leo sat in a chair and she hopped up on the table. He cleared his throat and said, "So…weird, right?"

She laughed, "Yep. Pretty much sums it up."

"and after this?"

"I dunno. Depends on what kind of info I manage to get. Speaking of which..." She got off of the table and started to rummage through the drawers. Just medical supplies. Nothing special.

Leo watched her, checking his phone on occasion. "Charmed life. I can see why you enjoy it." He said, watching her peek at the trash.

She shot him a look and got back up on the table, "you would be shocked at what you can find in somebody's trash. I find money in there all the time. I haven't seen that Nick guy. I haven't heard anyone mention him either. Just that everyone's collar has a short circuit. I think it's a code."

"For what?"

"No idea. I don't read minds. Most of what I learn is by listening to people. I will have to keep lurking around and listening. I just have to figure out who to listen to, and where. Those are called leads."

"I am not dumb. Does anyone ever figure out what you are up to?"

"Every once in a while. The smart ones do, then they start watching me. Then I have to get smarter, that's when I end up getting shocked a lot. Usually I only end up getting shocked on the take-down."

There was a knock at the door. The door opened, at first Juliet didn't think anyone had walked in. Then she realized Leo was gawking at the floor. She leaned over the edge of the table and saw a very, very small fox with very large ears. She lifted an eyebrow and said, "Seriously?"

"What? You want me to leave?" The voice that came out of the fox sounded like a 300lb pound bear. Leo and Juliet both dropped their jaws in disbelief.

The fox shook his head and said, "That's what I thought, shut up." He climbed up on the table with Juliet and asked, "So what is going on with your collar?"

She shook off the shock and said, "It's uh, shocking me in my sleep."

He pointed at the clipboard he had left on the floor and then looked at Leo, indicating he wanted him to hand it up. Leo scrambled for it and gave it to him. The fox shook his head impatiently. Juliet read his nametag, Finnick.

"So, how often do you get shocked by your collar, Juliet?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

Juliet balked, "Uh, like daily or..."

Leo put his muzzle in his palm and Finnick dropped the clipboard. He said, "Okay, listen close. The sleep thing has nothing to do with your collar girl. It's stress. Are you under a lot of stress?"

Juliet said, "No."

Leo said, "Yes."

Finnick crossed his arms and looked at Juliet, who rolled her eyes. She glared at Leo who shrugged and went back to texting on his phone. She said, "Fine, Yes, I am one big bag of stress. Stress and me, we are old pals."

Finnick pushed Juliet's muzzle and looked at the main component to her collar. He clicked a button or two and looked back and forth to the clipboard once or twice before saying, "Well, it's working great and it's updated. However, it's jacked up to the maximum volts. So whatever you do for a living, chick…its rough. I am surprised you haven't had a heart attack getting 5000 volts a day to your system. This thing goes off in your sleep too? You sure you aren't dead walking around?"

"Pretty sure, princess. Want me to prove it?" She was getting kind of irritated with Mr. Finnick. Her collar agreed with her and beeped.

Leo and Finnick both shook their heads. Finnick got down from the table. He wrote something on the clipboard and asked Leo, "She always this way?"

He replied, "yep."

Finnick added, "I have a buddy, Nick, He is exactly like that. His collar fries him too. I keep telling him what I am going to tell you. You need to chill out, take a vacation. The world will keep turning if you stop trying to save it. You keep going this way, your collar is going to send you to the loony bin or worse. I can't do anything for ya. Ciao."

He slammed the door behind him.

Leo put a paw on his knee and looked at the door saying, "Well that was useless…"

Juliet jumped down and put her hand on her hip, smiling. "Nope, he said his buddy Nick. Finnick is exactly the guy I need to follow. You coming with me?"

Leo turned his phone off and put his hands up indicated why not, and they left the room. Juliet looked down the halls in both directions and caught a glimpse of the tiny fox to the left. She made her way in that direction without consideration of Leo behind her. He followed hesitantly.

She tailed the fox through the corridors of the clinic until they came to a back exit, the fox stopped. Juliet looked around for a place to hide. There was an empty exam room across from them and she ran into it. She waved for Leo to follow her, and he clumsily did so. Finnick looked in their direction, but must not have suspected anything because he returned to what he was doing. Juliet could hear him pick up a phone and dial a number.

"Yah, Hey Clawhauser, tell Nick I am going to meet her now. I am taking my lunch anyway." Finnick slammed the phone onto the hook and took his jacket off. He mumbled something that sounded sarcastically like, "carrots" and went out the back door.

Juliet looked at Leo and counted to five. Then she went after the fox. Leo made a choking noise and she knew he was completely out of his element. He was the one that wanted to come along. She opened the back door slowly and didn't see much. Just a brown van with a mural on it. Finnick got into the van and climbed onto a pile of books to reach the steering wheel. He turned on some loud music and ripped out of the clinic.

Juliet went all the way out of the door and slammed her foot. She didn't have her bike, she couldn't follow him. But…"Leo! You have your car?"

"Uh, yeah…It's parked a few blocks over that way."

She grabbed his hand, "Let's go." She dragged him after the car as fast as he could go. He kept up better than she thought he would, and before she knew it, they were racing to the car. She didn't know where she was going, so it gave him an unfair advantage.

He got to the car first. They were both out of breath, but laughing. They got in and Leo asked where they were going. Juliet told him that Finnick had headed north, and it couldn't be too hard to find a big, brown van with a mural on it.


	8. Chapter 8 - Donuts

Chapter 8 – Donuts

They drove all over Happytown looking for the van, but couldn't find it. Juliet was disappointed that she had lost her only lead. They parked in front of a donut shop and she slumped in the seat. Leo turned off the car and checked his phone. They sat in silence for about a minute before Juliet sighed and said, "Let's just get something to eat so I can think." She opened the car door and slammed it behind her.

It took Leo a few minute to follow her, so she already had a cup of coffee and a bear claw ( _what is with the puns in this city?_ ) in front of her when he came in. He sat down and got comfy in the chair across from her, setting his phone on the table. He took a piece of her bear claw and ate it. She watched him do it, lost in thought. She was never this lost on a bounty. Usually, there was someone that had a grudge, or someone that was going to owe a lot of money that she could get to flip on them. This was different and she was lost.

Leo watched her for a minute, chewing slowly, and asked, "So, this is the closest to hanging out we have done in a while. It's kind of nice."

Her train of thought was broken and she smiled at him, "Yeah. It makes it suck less that I am completely at a loss with this guy. That Finnick guy and the Clinic are my only leads and they are shaky at best. No sign of a theme park anywhere either."

"Yeah. I am a little disappointed about that. Never been able to get on a roller coaster."

"That would have been a sight. If they took pictures, definitely a keeper. The look on your face would be priceless."

"Really? I remember you being the one that couldn't get on top of the Jungle Gym."

"Not fair! I was like ten! I got up there…eventually…once." Juliet took a sip of her coffee to hide her embarrassment that Leo remembered something from so long ago.

Leo tapped a paw on the table and looked at the donut display. He narrowed his eyes and said, "You know, I did see a donut box on the counter at the clinic. I think the Clawhauser guy likes them. Think we could bribe him into telling us something?"

"Maybe. If we can't get him to tell us where that Nick guy is, then maybe at least we can find out if the theme park is real. You're a genius, Leo. Let's get a dozen and go!" She threw back her coffee and jumped up. They split the cost on a dozen and made their way back to the clinic.

The line had dwindled by the time they got there. There were only three or four predators in the lobby and Clawhauser was humming pleasantly to himself. They approached the desk and put the donuts on the counter. Juliet put on her best charming smile, which got a very odd look from Leo. Clawhauser looked up from his paperwork and made a happy noise at the sight of the donuts. Juliet leaned over and whispered, "Finnick said that I need some stress relief, and I was told that maybe there was a place that I could relax. I was also told that maybe you might know something about it?"

Clawhauser put his paws on the box of donuts and said, "You didn't have to bring me sweets for that. But you are just so adorable. Oh my goodness. You two come with me."

Juliet elbowed Leo in a playful 'thank you' way and they followed Clawhauser through the clinic to an elevator. He pushed the down button and said, "You just get in the boat and when you get to the end of it you walk down the tunnel and at the end you pay the entrance fee and follow the instructions. You two have fun. I hope I see you again."

Juliet put on her sweetest voice, "Thank you so much, you enjoy those donuts! Don't work too hard!"

Clawhauser giggled and the elevator doors opened. Leo and Juliet stepped in. Juliet dropped the smile and rubbed her muzzle, she didn't usually smile that wide. Leo let out a laugh. She looked at him and said, "What?"

"That was adorable. You almost sounded like a girl."

"We are in closed quarters; you have nowhere to run. Did that seem a bit too easy?"

"A little, I guess. Was is supposed to be hard?"

"No, yes…maybe. Whatever. When we get there we have to look for the fox. So keep your eyes open, okay?"

"Yeah, but can we maybe have a little fun while we look though? I mean you just found out this place is actually real and you aren't at least a little excited? What if they can actually turn your collar off, even for a little while?" Leo leaned against the side of the elevator and looked at her.

She put her paw to her collar and felt it. The idea gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if they could? Her train of thought was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. They stepped out into a darkened tunnel.

It was dimly lit, and Juliet recognized it as an old subway tunnel. She could feel her pupils dilate to accommodate the low light. She could see fine, and found the boats that Clawhauser had mentioned. The subway tunnel had been flooded somehow and the boats were moving along like some kind of log flume ride.

Water always made her nervous and she jumped into the boat, avoiding as much water as possible. Leo followed her and sat next to her. The ride was remarkably short before they were met with a neon sign that read, "Wilde Times". They floated under it and looked at each other with nervous glances. The boat floated up to another exit area where a smiling bear held a hand out for them. Leo jumped out of the boat and helped Juliet, basically ignoring the bear's help. The bear didn't seem to mind, almost as if it was normal for mammals to act that way. The bear pointed down the tunnel, there was only one way to go so it was a little unnecessary. Juliet started to wonder why the Bear was actually there.

The pathway was much better lit, and led to a kiosk. A wolverine reading a newspaper was sitting with his feet up inside. He saw them approach and folded the newspaper. They didn't quite reach the counter, so they couldn't see what he was doing, but they could hear him rustle around inside the kiosk before coming out of the side with a bag of tools.

He sauntered over to Leo and Juliet. Juliet took a step back. The wolverine said, "Whoa, first time?"

Juliet didn't answer, which was pretty much an answer.

"Right. Lemme explain how this works. I am Richard. You are either going to see me or Finnick here, which you probably met at the clinic. We are the techs who work for Mr. Wilde and work on the collars. Don't worry, we know what we are doing. You two together, synced up or anything?"

Leo jumped a bit and shook his head no. Juliet didn't take her eyes off of the wolverine. His collar had no lights at all.

He walked over to Leo first. He said, "You seem to be the calmer one. Let me show you. By the way, Nick says your first visit is always on the house." Leo stood up tall and let Richard look at his collar. The wolverine looked around the bag for a second and pulled out a tool that looked remarkably like a tv remote. He held it to Leo's collar, which beeped twice and then the lights went dead.

Juliet stood as still as she could for the wolverine to disable hers, he commented about the voltage just as Finnick did. She asked, "What is the big deal anyway? I can handle a little extra jolt." She rubbed the collar as the lights went out.

Richard lifted his eyebrows at her, "That isn't just a little extra, your collar is at the highest possible voltage allowed for your height and weight, legally. Any higher could kill you. Too many shocks together could kill you. You're a walking time bomb. It's no wonder you are stressed out. Some time in here could do you wonders. Enjoy yourself."

"hmph" Juliet gave Richard a sarcastic look and walked with Leo past the kiosk and through the doors.

Leo elbowed her, "Hey, I think thank you was the appropriate response there."

"I am not a walking time bomb."

"Oh no, not you. Never. Uh uh." Leo laughed.

Juliet crossed her arms and they walked together into the park…and they both gasped.


	9. Chapter 9 - Wilde Times

Chapter 9 – Wilde Times

The entire park was underground and lit with millions of lights. String lights, neon lights, strobe lights, spot lights. Predators and prey alike were running to and fro laughing and carrying on without a care in the world. Loud, belligerent, free.

It was the most fantastic spectacle they had ever seen in their life. Juliet watched a car full of mammals rocket over their head on track that could only be a roller coaster. She could smell food and sweat and dirt. She loved it. Leo had the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face she had ever seen. She looked over at him and said, "okay, maybe we could have a little fun."

Leo had lights reflect in his eyes, he chuckled and threw his fist in the air. "I knew this place was real. C'mon. I will race you to the roller coaster." He grabbed her hand and yanked her away into the park. She started slowly after him, but started running faster.

She let herself get excited, just a little. Then more, and more. She let out a yell as they ran through the crowds of mammals. She thought they would be angry, but they cheered them on. It was amazing to feel free, not to worry about the collar stopping her. They had raced before, but not like this. She let herself feel every heartbeat, every thump of her footpads on the concrete. The adrenaline coursed through her and it felt natural. Leo was lost in his own excitement. So much so that he didn't see the entrance to the ride. Juliet made the sharp left, and Leo skidded to make the turn. She beat him there and stuck her tongue out at him.

Leo caught up with her out of breath, "That…was…amazing…"

"Oh yeah. I wish I had listened to you back then. I can't wait to get on this thing, it's going to be so great!"

Leo put his hand to his collar. He looked at the line around them, everyone was smiling and happy. "This is paradise, Juliet."

"Don't get mushy on me, Leo. You'll ruin the buzz." She punched him in the shoulder, and leaned on the metal rail that formed the line.

"I mean, what if it could always be like this. If all the preds of Zootopia could shut off their collars at once and be free. It would be…"

"Perfect." Juliet finished his sentence. Leo put his arm around her and she smiled. They moved up in line and she said, "But it isn't, so we have to enjoy this. You wanna be up front? Or are you going to wuss out and ride in back?"

"I'm riding wherever you are." He put his phone his pocket and tapped it defiantly.

They got in the front seats of the ride and locked in. Juliet immediately got nervous. She looked at Leo. "You don't think this thing goes very high, do you?"

Leo laughed, "Of course it does, you aren't gonna wuss out are you?" He emphasized her words.

She looked forward and grabbed ahold of the handles on the restraints. She felt afraid, and some part of her expected a shock, but it never came. She couldn't remember feeling fear without pain. It really wasn't so bad, being afraid. Not as bad as it was with the collar.

The ride started moving, and she got more afraid. By the time they were at the top of the slope, Leo was laughing hysterically, "Your face, Juliet, oh my god!" Juliet felt like she was going to throw up. As soon as they dropped, she could feel her tail bristle from end to end, and she screamed the loudest she had ever screamed in her life. After the first drop. She was laughing.

They got off of the ride, and she was so packed with adrenaline she could barely walk. She sat down near the exit and started preening her tail with her claws. Leo eyeballed her from as seated position across from her. She glared at him and said, "Yeah, I bristled, so?"

He got up and left for a minute, she just continued to preen her tail until she could walk. When she could finally stand up, Leo returned. He handed her a postcard-sized picture. It was the two of them on the ride. Her face was frozen in horror, and you could see the end of her tail bristled out of the side of the car. Leo's face was contorted in maniacal laughter. The whole scene was so amusing Juliet couldn't stop herself from breaking out in laughter.

"That's your copy, Juliet. A memento of the only time you were the one that was scared more than I was." Leo showed her the edge of a second copy in his pocket.

She smiled, "You would have to have photo evidence of that, wouldn't you?"

He put his arm around her shoulders and said, "There are games this way, let's walk through them and look for your fox, how about it?"

His tone was strange, but she agreed. The boardwalk was adorned with games of all kinds. They avoided anything with water guns on principle. Water and cats don't mix. As they made their way down the boardwalk, they listened to all of the mammals trying to bring in players. One particular badger caught their attention.

"Beat the badger at the strength hammer. Hey, you, the ocelot in the shirt. Wanna show off to your girlfriend? C'mon over and give it a try!" Juliet snorted. She knew the badger was talking to Leo. Leo was staring at the Badger with eyes like saucers. Leo pointed at himself.

The badger said, "Yeah, you. C'mon. Show off for your sweetie."

Juliet said, very loudly and sarcastically, "Yeah…show off for me" and gave him a shove. She was having far too much fun. She followed him over to the game. Leo handed the badger some money and watched as he hit a large metal button with a cartoonish rubber hammer. The lights zinged up almost to the top of the wooden sign where a bell hung, and zipped back down.

The badger handed Leo the hammer. A small crowd had gathered by then. Juliet put her hand over her mouth, Leo gave her a disapproving sideways glance and smacked the button. The lights went all the way up to the bell and made a rather loud 'ding'.

"Good job, son. Pick a prize for your sweetheart." The badger hollered. He picked a stuffed purple duck. He put his other hand in his pocket and rushed over to Juliet, who was laughing hysterically at him, because she actually could. He tried to hand the duck to her, and she put her paw out to stop him.

"What am I going to do with it?" He said.

"Keep if for me, sweetie, I don't have anywhere to put it at the hostile" She took a deep breath and started walking further down the boardwalk. Leo shrugged and tucked the duck under his arm, he seemed eager to get away from the badger.

They came to the end of the boardwalk and there in bright neon was a sign that read, "Nicholas P. Wilde" on the side of a building. Juliet stopped and pointed saying, "You think that is his office, just maybe."

Leo nodded, "you might be on to something."


	10. Chapter 10 - Oblivious

Chapter 10 – Oblivious

They waltzed up to the door of the office to find a sign which read 'the fox is away'. Juliet raised an eyebrow and said, "Well he thinks highly of himself." She started walking around the side of the building. Leo ran after her and looking over his shoulder he asked, "What you doing?"

"Looking for a window or something," she found a window but it was shut tight. She continued to look around the building, but was having no luck.

"We are going to get caught and thrown out of here, Juliet."

She didn't look at him when she replied, "scaredy-cat,".

"I am not…just stop…Juliet. Seriously. He isn't here. Can we just enjoy the park? It's getting late."

She stopped and looked at her phone. He was right, it was getting late. She had to check in to the hostile or she would lose her bunk. More than 48 hours away loses a space, house rules. She kicked a rock and looked out over the boardwalk. Plopping down in the grass outside the office, she sighed "Today was a bust."

Leo sat beside her, putting the duck gently on the grass beside him. He put his paw behind her and looked at the boardwalk as well. He said, "Not completely, we found this place. We found the office. It is just a matter of time. You will find him. Let's just enjoy the day together."

"Yeah. You aren't bad company I guess." She punched his arm pathetically. He smiled. She continued, picking at the grass, "I have to get back to the hostile though. If I don't check in every 48 hours, I lose my bunk and I have to get on the list again. Which could mean sleeping under a bridge. I would rather not. So let's get going." She brushed her paws off and tried to get up. Leo put his paw on her leg to stop her. She looked at him, confused.

He said, "Hold on. You can crash with me, you know that. Why are you so determined to stay at that place?"

She sighed in frustration. "I just want to make it on my own, besides. You don't need me cramping your style."

"What style?"

"No kidding."

"Hey! Well the offer stands. I will drive you to your bike at least. I told you I would. You can't keep running forever, you know." He stood up and cradled the duck under his arm, offering her a paw.

"I am not running from anything, Leo." She got up without taking his hand.

"Keep telling yourself that, Juliet. You have been running since high school. You have to slow down sometime or you are going to crash. I worry about you, more than you realize."

"Okay, Mom, then you can buy me a drink when we get to the skunk. That will take care of me just fine." She stuck her tongue out at him and sauntered off.

Leo sighed and rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his head, his ears back in frustration. "I could use a drink."

They found the exit and let Richard turn their collars back on. Juliet asked if they would stay off if they just ran. He said no, as soon as they got into range of any of the signal towers, they would reboot. Before long they were back in Leo's car and arguing over the radio, the duck in the backseat.

They listened to the radio for a block or two with Leo fidgeting in his seat. He adjusted over and over again. After a few minutes of it driving her mad, Juliet threw her head back and growled, "Out with it, will you?"

Leo gripped the steering wheel tighter, "Out with what?"

"Whatever is bothering you? Either we need to stop for the bathroom, or you need to ask me something."

"No, I don't."

"You want to; you haven't sat still since we left the park. You gonna ask me or am I going to have to make you?"

"Make me?"

She extended a claw and started wiggling it toward his midsection, he began to flail away from her. The car swerved dangerously and she laughed maniacally.

Leo gasped, "Fine, Fine, I was just curious if you have had a boyfriend since high school."

Juliet paused for a second and relaxed in the seat, "Hell no. Never. You should know that. I could never get a date in high school. You took me to everything so that I didn't feel embarrassed. Not that that creep Kansas doesn't try."

"Kansas?"

"My kinda-sorta rival bounty hunter. I stole one of his bounties, once. Now, he takes on every bounty he can get his paws on hoping to bump into me. He calls me all of these pet names and tries to be sweet and caress me and ask me out. He bought me jeweled cuffs once." Her collared beeped. She forgot it was active again. Just talking about Kansas got her blood boiling.

Leo's collar beeped as well. Juliet was surprised, she hardly ever heard his collar warn him, let alone shock him. He was gripping the wheel super tight. He flexed his paws and gripped the steering wheel again. He asked, "What did you do with the cuffs?"

"You're gonna love it. I cuffed him to a park bench in Tundra Town. Left him there." Juliet was a little off-put by Leo's behavior. Was he actually…jealous?

"Creep is too good a word for that guy. I knew you didn't like him, but wow. Now, I don't like him, like, with a passion."

"I don't run into him too often; he works for Koslov mostly." Juliet felt the need to reassure Leo.

"The polar bear you pick up Jaz's Vodka from? I can pick that up from now on if you want?"

"Oh, my knight in shining armor! Really, I can handle Kansas. He touches me again; I might neuter him." She extended the claws on her paw, and her collar beeped another warning. She retracted them. Seems like they both got a little too comfortable at that park with their collars turned off.

"Are you sure, it's not a problem, really." He looked at her with genuine concern.

"Why are you being so nice?" She eyed him suspiciously. He was acting really weird. Maybe it was having his collar back on, or something.

"In a really good mood I guess. I had a really nice day. What does that Kansas guy look like? That way I know if he comes in to the bar." He was looking forward and controlling his breathing. Probably to avoid getting shocked.

"He is a Curacao. He wears this stupid black jacket with stitching that says 'Wild thing' on it. He is pretty easy to spot with his stupid cowboy hat he wears too." Her collar zapped her this time. She jumped in her seat and put her paws up to it in a grimace. It didn't hurt as much as it normally did. The wolverine must have turned it down when he turned it back on. She thanked him secretly.

Leo looked at her with concern, she knew he caught the shock and had ignored it, and said, "I will keep an eye out, and I will serve him the cheap stuff with the ice from the bottom of the machine, just for you."

Juliet snorted and they pulled up to the bar. As they walked in Jaz yelled, "Where have you two been all day? Roll in the hay? Or did you catch that gutter rat?"

They sat at the bar and Juliet said, "Hey Jaz, say that any louder and everyone will be able to tell him that I am after him. You will put me out of the job."

She poured them both a drink and said, "Then you can work for me and I will have a matching pair of bartenders. You would get better tips than this idiot. He is too sweet. Guys would pay their last dollar if they thought that a bad girl like you might go home with them."

Juliet replied, "Thanks but no thanks, Jaz. I like what I do. Leo can keep his job."

Leo had his face in his paw, but moved his paw and pointed at Jaz to say, "Hey, I get plenty of tips, and btw, I have been working out."

Jaz made a 'Hm—mm' affirmation noise with lots of sarcasm and went about pouring drinks for other patrons. Leo and Juliet both shook their heads. Their conversation was mostly about Juliet not working with Koslov anymore. She convinced Leo that she rarely saw Kansas there so it was fine. She really didn't get why he was so worried anyway.

After the drink, Juliet went to her bike. She gave the bike an enormous hug. She really did miss riding it. Leo put his hands in his pockets and said, "Well jeez, the bike might as well be your boyfriend, you keep hugging it like that."

Juliet laughed, "Not much of a cuddler." She strapped her helmet on.

Leo remarked, "Well, he and I differ there. Am I going to see you tomorrow?"

She straddled the bike and said, "I am probably going to go stake out that park and see what I can learn from the mammals that work there. If I can't catch him there, maybe they know where I can."

"Maybe after you do catch him, if the park is still running, you want to go again sometime."

She looked at him through the helmet, he was looking at her sideways, with a strange glance. She had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. She blamed the alcohol and said, "Sure. I would like that. Seeya Leo." She kicked the bike to life and took off. The whole scene had gotten weird and she was thankful to go for a ride to clear her head. She didn't understand what was up with him. Maybe a good night's sleep and she would figure it out.


	11. Chapter 11 - Acquiescence

Chapter 11 – Acquiescence

It felt good to have the wind in her fur again. There was nothing like the power of her bike. She could feel every inch of her body vibrate with it. Every strand of fur radiated with it. The first few times she took the bike out she ended up getting shocked by her collar from the sheer exhilaration of it. She eventually learned to temper the feeling and now it was more like meditation to hug the curves of the road.

The sun was going down over the sandy dunes of Sahara square when she got to the hostile. She wheeled her bike up in the fading orange light. It felt like it had been more like weeks since she had been there; even though it had only been two days.

Most of the other mammals were around the dining table enjoying the communal meal. It was included in the fee. Juliet shrugged and got a plate, joining them. She ate silently, listening to them jabber on about boys, jobs, and money.

She realized they all had the same sort of defeated tone in their voice. There was something she couldn't quite place, a sadness. As she watched them talk, she could the same sadness in them. In their movements, their mannerisms. Every last one of them was so dull and cheerless. Juliet hadn't noticed it before, but now she had seen what mammals looked like when they had even a small moment without their collars. This scene was like something out of a black and white film.

Leo's words came to mind, "Paradise". She had an urge to drag every one of them down to the park and show them even a moment of real joy like she had. Except, she had to arrest the fox responsible for it all. Her survival depended on it. What would be the point to show them something she may be taking away?

She lost her appetite and put her plate in the sink. She threw her stuff onto her top bunk and jumped up silently. She lay on the comforter with her paws behind her head. Bringing in a bounty had never bothered her before. She hadn't even laid eyes on this guy, and she wasn't sure about bringing him in. It was always, there is the bad guy, get him. No muss, no fuss.

It was all Leo's fault. He had been the one to point out all the good the fox was doing at every turn. Leo always slowed her down when she tried to charge into things. She folded her arms. As a matter of fact, he had been acting strange all day. What was up with him?

She glared at the ceiling, trying to recall their conversations. The one which came to mind over and over again was Leo asking if she had a boyfriend. From Juliet's experience in observing mammals over the years, a male usually does that when he is interested in a female. She turned her head slightly and twitched her ear. No way. Leo? Why would he have any interest in her? She shook her head and got under the covers.

She was going to go back to the clinic and sniff around for that fox. She had to survive before she could worry about her best friend carrying a torch for her. Why did she notice now? He couldn't have just decided today that he liked her. It was probably the park. That park…

She drifted off to sleep dreaming of carnival games and purple ducks.

She had breakfast with the other predators, mostly out of guilt that they had no idea about the park, and she did. If it still ran, she had every intention of taking every last one of them. She would take every single predator in Zootopia just to give them a taste of that momentary freedom if she could.

Why did they have the stupid collars in the first place? She felt some small pang of anger somewhere deep inside her. Beep. The other predators, two wolves and a polar bear, looked at her with suspicion. She smiled sheepishly and said, "Heh, I have a bounty giving me the slip. Bugging me a little. Oh, and I think my friend might like me, so just got some stuff."

The polar bear, her name was Jaqlin, perked up and said, "Oh! Finally, you and Leo are getting together?"

"What do you mean finally?" Juliet asked, puzzled. All of the preds at the table laughed and didn't say anything else. Juliet grumped and took her plate over to the sink. She waved goodbye and grabbed her cuffs out of her bag. She mouthed, 'finally?' to herself as a question. She shook it off and stashed her stuff on her bunk. Whatever they meant, it would have to wait until after she got her mark.

Happytown was pretty busy, she had no idea that there was a farmer's market. She found a place to park her bike. She would be able to blend in better at least. Juliet wandered around the market, looking at the different fruits, vegetables, and crafts.

It wasn't long before her attention wandered from the wares to the mammals. She found herself comparing prey to predator. Prey were colorful, laughing, full of life. They were alive and free. Preds, most of them had that same listless, gray look to them. There were a few that smiled, a few that found a way to feel, to fight. Juliet made an effort to wave and smile at each one. She wanted them to know that she saw the effort they made, that she was fighting too.

Fighting what exactly? She shook it off, she was there for a reason. Juliet decided to leave the market and make her way toward the collar clinic. She found the clinic, but it was closed. She growled in frustration, but then she noticed a small fox decal in the corner of the closed sign that had an arrow pointing to the left of the building.

She followed it around back to find the wolverine, Richard, from the day before reading a risqué magazine full of canid females. He quickly stashed it when she came around the corner. He smiled and said, "Ah, its 5k."

"5k?"

"Your voltage, before I changed it. What can I do you for? You here for another day in the park?"

She chuckled, "Actually, I was hoping to catch your boss, Mr. Wilde. I had some questions. I want a job."

He clicked his tongue, "Right, well, Nick is not the type to get found. He is the type to go find mammals. I will let him know you are looking for him. He is out…er… looking for carrots." The wolverine slapped his knee and laughed loudly.

Juliet didn't get it. "Right. Well then how do I go about getting into the park on a day when the clinic doesn't operate?"

"Say please." He smiled a very toothy grin.

This very odd display caught Juliet off guard and she giggled childishly. "I'll keep that in mind. For now, I was just curious." She padded off shaking her head, and he went back to his dirty mag. A thought occurred to her, maybe she could sneak in and get to Wilde's office. She looked at the clinic and tried to imagine where the elevator door was inside.

She had her best guess in mind as she tried to look for a water source large enough to flood the subway tunnel. Then she remembered then Happytown was adjacent to the rainforest district. Sly fox…he could just bypass the runoff. She just had to listen for water and…Yahtzee.

She found a drain cover large enough that she could fit through it. It looked as though she hadn't been the first one with the idea. The fence covering had been cut and peeled back numerous times for different size mammals. She happened to be rather small, so she would fit easily. She could just sneak in and get to his office….

"Well aren't you just a vision from behind, my sweet Juliet" came a voice from behind her.


	12. Chapter 12 - Kansas

Chapter 12 – Kansas

"Kansas" Juliet spat it. Her collar went off and her fur bristled. She stood up and turned around slowly, glaring up and the Curacao as though he were something to be squashed.

He put his paw over his heart and said, "You do remember me darling, it had been so long. I thought you would have forgotten me. You broke my heart leaving me all hot and bothered in the cold like that. You outta make it up to me."

"What are you doing here Kansas? You just here to harass me? Or are do you have a particular purpose for slithering around?" She tried to control her breathing, she knew a shock was coming on. Her paws clenched in frustration.

He used to thumb to push his hat up and leaned against a trashcan. "Oh, just after a rather slippery fox, maybe you heard of him, a Mr. Wilde?"

She pointed at him, her collar beeped again. "He is my mark Kansas; I will make you a soprano if you weasel in on my score"

"Be still my beating heart. You are such a fiery little thang. Tell you what, have a drink with me at my new club, the Tomcat Lounge, and I will back off. What do you say, Sweet thang? He smiled greasily at her.

"I will be dead and cold before you get anywhere near me. Then again, you might like that, creep. I am going to get Wilde first. Go enjoy your tomcats." Her collar shocked her and she cringed.

"ooh, that hurts the both of us, Darlin. You outta think long and hard about my offer. Things are a changing around here and you wanna be on the right side. I will see you around, perty tail." He winked at her and swaggered off.

Juliet sat, she was shaking from the shock and the anger. Stupid Kansas was on her bounty, this bounty of all of them. She had to work fast. The wolverine said he was not there, so it wasn't worth the risk sneaking in. She would have to come back later that night. She felt awful anyway. She decided to just go back to the hostile and take a shower. She needed to wash the encounter with Kansas away physically and mentally.

They were supposed to be out of the hostile during the day so Juliet had to sneak through the restroom window to get a shower. It was mid-afternoon when she finished her shower and headed toward her bunk. The scene that met her was hardly welcoming.

The ZPD was crawling all over the hostile. They looked startled to see her come out of the restroom, and she thanked her lucky stars she had dressed before she came out. The bunny office she had met before was able to ID her easily, so that was a plus. Apparently a bunch of angry predators in suits had ransacked through the hostile looking for something.

The bunny officer, Juliet remembered her name after seeing her badge, asked, "Aren't you on a bounty for the ZPD?"

Juliet leaned against a bunk and crossed her arms, "Yeah. I am."

"Do you think that this has anything to do with that assignment."

"No idea. You tell me. You're the officer."

The bunny tapped her foot and said, "Have you run into any kind of trouble on this assignment Ms. Hunter?"

"Oh, just the other sleezeball bounty hunter you 'assigned' to the mark. Y'know, Kansas. He is trouble in the worst way, and then some. Other than that I have just been tracking him down."

"Kansas. Right. Well thank you Ms. Hunter. We will be in touch. Be careful." The officers left.

Juliet looked through the hostile and found the owner, a wolf by the name of Aileen. She was cleaning up some glass. Juliet had a pang of guilt and knelt down to help her. Aileen was startled at the sight of Juliet and waved her away. She asked her to sit.

"What is it Aileen?" Juliet asked. She hadn't talked to the old wolf much, except to pay her fees once or twice a month and to handle any complaints the other tenants had about her.

Aileen sat across from Juliet on a battered sofa. She sighed and put a paw on Juliet's leg. "Juliet, we need to have a conversation that has been a long time coming. I am going to get you a refund for the time you have left paid for. In light of events, I think it is best that you go now, before everyone else returns. I don't believe this is your fault, but your occupation does welcome trouble. You are nearly thirty. This is a youth hostel. I have been very gracious with you because of the actions of your father, but I believe it is time for you to move on from here."

Juliet's heart sank. Her collar rang its warning and she scooted off of the couch and stood. She swallowed and was barely able to say, "I don't know if this was my fault, but keep the money to pay for the damages. You won't see me again."

She stormed out of the room, Aileen didn't try to stop her. Juliet threw everything she cared to take with her into a backpack. She threw anything she didn't want onto different bunks to indicate who got to have them. When she was done she left out of the door. She started her bike as loudly as she could and ripped out of the hostile, spitting sand behind her. There were still ZPD cars outside. She weaved around them; ignoring the look that officer Hopps gave her as she sped away.

That place had been her home for a very long time. It hurt to see it go, but she knew it was going to happen someday. Her heart weighed heavy with the feeling of loss. Her collar beeped now and again and she would just hit the throttle to kill the feeling. She knew exactly where she was going to go. She needed a friend right now. She needed Leo. She was going to take him up on that offer.


	13. Chapter 13 - Dark

Chapter 13 – Dark

She nearly missed Leo's place she was going so fast. She fishtailed slightly to stop in time. His car was parked in the drive. There was a red truck parked across the street that was unfamiliar to her. She was too upset to care too much. If she gave in even a little, she was going to burst into tears.

Her knock was more urgent than she intended. She realized that she should have probably texted him ahead of time, oh well, too late now. She bounced on her paws impatiently. He was there, why wasn't he answering?

He finally answered, he was in gym shorts. He was shocked to see her, "JULIET?" He came out of the apartment and shut the door behind him. "What is going on?"

She tilted her head, "Well, I got kicked out of the hostile, so I thought I would take you up on that room offer!"

He rubbed the back of his head and grimaced, "This is a bad time, Juliet. I really, really hate to do this, can you come back in an hour?"

She took a step back, "Bad time? My turn, what is going on, Leo?" Her voice cracked. Her collar beeped.

Before he could answer, the door opened behind him. A female sand cat stood in the doorway in a sundress. She leaned her arm over her head against the doorframe and asked, "Everything okay, Leopold?"

Juliet felt an eruption of pain from her stomach through her chest. She fell backwards into the sand. Her collar shocked her and she rolled over into the sand, tears forming in her eyes. What was going on? She thought…that Leo…who was she?

Leo lunged forward to help Juliet up and was trying to say something, but Juliet smacked him away. Her collar shocked her again. Sand stuck to the tears in her eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. She didn't care. She got to her feet and ran to her bike. She roared it to life just as she heard Leo yell, "Juliet, wait, please!"

She was gone into the evening light. The air blew the sand from her fur and dried the tears to the fur on her face. The pain would not subside. There was only one thing left to do. She was going to catch this damn fox, collect her money and disappear. Then no one could hurt her anymore. She could be no one, and nothing. She could go where there was no pain, far away from everyone that she thought cared about her.

She was going so fast around the junction to Happytown that she skidded the bike. She thanked her lucky stars she always wore a helmet, and cursed that she was wearing her favorite jeans. They looked designer with the road stress on the right side now. She tried to start her bike, but it wouldn't start. She kicked the bike, which earned her another shock.

The collar shocks were actually numbing the other pain. She could handle the collar pain. Better the evil you know. Juliet looked around at the darkening city and decided she was just going to walk. Stashing her bike under an overpass, she started on foot with her entire life on her back.

The drain grate she had found before was easy to locate again. Throwing her backpack down first, she slid into the darkness feet first. Her paws landed on the wet ground silently, and she let her pupils adjust. She could see as thought it was the middle of the day. Picking up her pack, she followed the river that the boats floated on.

It was a shorter walk than expected. She had plenty of adrenaline to heighten her senses. All she had to worry about was tempering her mood to keep her collar quiet. The level of ultra-focus kept her mind off of everything. She was going to get her mark, if it killed her.

The park was closed. The stillness was eerie. The only sound was the lapping of the water against the stone of the long disused subway tunnel. As she made her way toward the entrance the sound lessened and everything got quiet. She could hear her own pulse in her ears, it was deafening. She ducked into the entrance and was careful to tread softly through to the fox's office.

She moved as quickly as she dared through the park, trying not to recall the memories of her and Leo's day there. The photo memento was in her pack. She passed the hammer game and her heart beat a little louder. Her collar beeped. The sound echoed across the park like a bullhorn. She stood completely still and took a deep breath; trying to calm herself. She got moving again, she had to get away from the boardwalk.

She spotted the office. The lights were on. Her heart did a little leap of joy and she quickened her pace. Intentionally, she went around back to the window she knew was there. Putting her pack in a seemingly safe place, she made her way near to the window. She could hear faint voices inside. One she recognized as Finnick from the collar clinic. Another she didn't recognize, but was sure had to be her mark, Nick.

If she had to, she was pretty sure she could over-power Finnick. Even with her collar on. She tucked her cuffs in so they wouldn't click against the window and pulled herself in backwards, so that she would be as quiet as possible.

CLANK

Everything went dark.


	14. Chapter 14 - Cry

Chapter 14 – Cry

Juliet woke up to the sound of someone saying, "Really, Nick, you didn't have to hit her so hard."

"Oh, Carrots, precisely how hard do you smack someone that may be trying to kill you?"

Juliet couldn't help herself, "I wasn't trying to kill you."

The room got silent. Juliet sat up and rubbed the back of her head; she had been struck hard enough to knock her on her tail. She had never been knocked clean out before. She could take that one off of her bucket list.

Looking around the room she took an inventory of everyone there. She saw Finnick, her mark Nick, and was startled to see the ZPD bunny officer, "Officer Hopps? What in the fuzzy side of hades are you doing here?"

Judy bounced on her heels and said, "It's a long story. We should wait until everyone gets here."

Juliet stood up from the floor, "We aren't waiting for anything. You better give me one good reason I am not arresting that fox and taking him in for my bounty."

Judy looked at Nick, who shrugged, Judy said, "Well Nick is, technically in my custody until further notice…so he is kind of, sort of under arrest."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "That is about as clear as mud. What is going on? What happened to good guys and bad guys? I don't get it. This whole bounty has been one whacked out trip. I have been kicked out of my home, my best friend has lost his mind."

Nick put a paw up and injected, "speaking of Leo, you should probably give him an opportunity to clarify your small misunderstanding."

Juliet's collar beeped and she took a step toward Nick, "The only thing you or he are going to get from me is a swift kick in the kiwis. I am pretty upset with the whole male species right now!"

Finnick chortled from the top of a stool in the corner of the room. Juliet whipped around to face him and growled, "Got something to add to this circus, short stack?"

Finnick raised an eyebrow, and Nick laughed at him. Finnick added, "Yeah, just the idea of golden boy Leo doing anything worth getting kicked in the chicharones."

Judy put her arms out and said, "Okay. Everyone calm down. Juliet, you have had a rough night. Nick is in my official custody until further notice and you may need medical attention. Why don't you sit down until everyone gets here and we have a serious talk? We will explain what is going on. Until then, can we just be calm, no kicking of any kind of produce?"

Juliet crossed her arms and sat against a wall in the opposite corner of Finnick. Her tail twitched impatiently. She had an issue with being disrespectful to police officers, and Judy happen to be one. If Nick was in her custody, then fine. Juliet would have to wait. She was starting to wonder who exactly was supposed to be coming?

They all sat awkwardly staring at each other for about twenty minutes before there was a knock at the door. Judy opened it and the sand cat from Leo's place walked in. Juliet didn't even hear the warning beep before her collar shocked her. She cringed and hopped up shouting, "NO, NO, NO, NO, no way….."

Leo followed the sand cat. He looked at Juliet so sadly that she just burst into tears and pressed herself against the wall. She couldn't even look at him. She hated herself for not realizing her feelings earlier, but it was too late now. Leo moved across the room for her, but Nick stopped him with a serious look on his face.

Nick cleared his throat and said, "Juliet…this is Abigail. She works for me. So does Leo. I asked Leo to keep tabs on you while you were tracking me and to report to Abby, that is why she was at his house. He was telling her where you guys had been and what you had talked about. This whole thing is just a silly misunderstanding. See…everything is fine."

Juliet stopped crying and looked to her left. A pile of couch cushions was laying there. She picked up two of them and started hurling them at Nick. "You…stupid…dumb….fox. Do you have any idea what I have been through? And you!" She pointed at Leo.

She hopped over the couch and out the door. Her reaction was so sudden no one tried to stop her. She didn't want to hear any more of it. Fine, he wasn't in a relationship. He was still keeping tabs on her, and for how long? How much of it was genuine? She was stomping around outside looking for her pack when he came round the corner in the dark.

"What do you want Leo?" She found her pack and huffed at him.

"To apologize. There is a reason I was doing this. We are doing something here. It is more than protecting Nick." He made a step toward her. She considered bodily harm. Her collar revealed her thinking.

"Like what?"

"Like trying to get rid of collars. For every predator in Zootopia."

That did it. Her entire body went numb. The concept just eluded her. She couldn't comprehend how something like that would be accomplished. How did Leo get in on it? All she could say was, "What?"

He moved a little closer. "We may have figured out how to get rid of collars. For everyone. Not just here at the park, but for everyone in Zootopia. Even for you, Juliet. That is why I am doing this."

She fell onto the grass. She started to take deep breaths, her collar beeped. It was all too much to take, too much to handle. She was already weak from repeated shocks, and from getting knocked out, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Leo put his hands up and said, "hold on a sec." He ran back into the office. Juliet was too weak and numb to go anywhere anyway. He returned with one of the remote things. He knelt next to Juliet and held it up to her collar. She liked when he was close, it made her feel better. Her collar beeped and died. Juliet inhaled and grabbed onto Leo. She sobbed uncontrollably. She would get him for everything he put her through later, right now it didn't matter. He didn't move at first, but after a moment he embraced her and they sat that way for some time in the dark.

After she was done she said, "You ever tell anyone I cried like that, I will hurt you."

He laughed and put his chin on her head. "Never. So will you come back inside and listen to them? I finally convinced them to trust you and then you break into Nick's office. They are all impressed and absolutely terrified of you. Except Finnick. He likes you."

When they got back into the office everyone watched Juliet as though she were a bomb about to go off. She was tempted to scream 'boo', but she didn't have the energy. She found a seat and plopped down. Leo stood nearby her awkwardly. She grabbed his paw and pulled him down next to her. Not too close, but nearby. He got her into this after all.

She looked at everyone and said, "Well, talk!"


	15. Chapter 15 - Because

Chapter 15 – Because

Nick started, "So we think that we know who makes the collars and that we might know who runs the company that makes the collars, and that we could possibly be able to take them down. In the process, that would shut down all the collars in Zootopia."

Judy rolled her eyes, "What he is trying to say is that we think SafariCorp is making the collars. The paperwork about who runs SafariCorp is really vague on who actually runs the company. They control the collars with towers all over the city that link up to a main building in the center of City Central. If we can take out the tower and SafariCorp at the same time, then all of the collars will turn off."

Abigail continued, "At that point we will spread word on the street that preds don't need their collars anymore. Then prey can see that its useless to start it all back up. IF they don't see, then they have a bunch of angry, suppressed preds on their hands."

Finnick chimed in, "Either way, collars don't come back if they go down."

Juliet absorbed all of the information. All she saw were holes. Where was SafariCorp? How do they bring it down? How exactly do they bring the tower down? She closed her eyes and said, "There are a lot of what-ifs."

Nick said, "I built Wilde-times on a maybe. We can do it. Especially with you on board. We were trying to keep law enforcement out, but since I decided to work with Carrots. I broke my own rule. "

Juliet perked her ears up, "Carrots? Seriously? Is that what everyone kept talking about? The rabbit? Holy cannoli…I need sleep." She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

Judy glared at Nick and her nose twitched at him, he shrugged and half-smiled at her. Judy looked at Juliet and said, "Well you should know those guys at your hostile were definitely from SafariCorp. I am very sorry that you got kicked out of there because of it."

Leo looked at Juliet and said in a low tone, "You can still stay in my spare room if you want to, y'know, now that you know that Abigail was just there getting a report."

Abigail hopped over the couch and leaned over Juliet in a suggestive way, "If you are worried love, don't be. I don't bat for his team. There was no fuzzy business going on. I just caught him doing that ninja nonsense that he does."

Juliet flushed. She had never been hit on by a female, but oddly it put her mind at ease, completely. She shook her head that she understood Abigail's inference and watched her walk away. Juliet chuckled and said to Leo, "Yeah, I am definitely crashing on your couch. I need sleep, badly. I ran into Kansas today on top of everything else."

Leo nodded his understanding and said, "Yeah. You need sleep." Leo grabbed her paw and they got up and made for the door; saying their goodbyes.

Finnick asked, "Hey, who is Kansas?"

Juliet groaned, "I will tell you some other time. He is just a mega creep." Finnick nodded.

Leo said his goodbyes to everyone and they left. She made for the way she came in and Leo grabbed her paw. He said, "There is an easier way, c'mon."

Turns out there was a staircase stashed behind a telephone booth near the office. Had Juliet known she would have come in that way. She lay her head against the window when they got into the car. As Leo went to start it he stopped and asked, "Hey, where is your bike?"

She chuckled weakly, "I dumped it. Like, crashed. It's under an overpass near Hill st. It's been a bit of a day."

"No kidding. You collar is going to turn on in a minute. Just be careful, okay?" He started the car. The vibration of the vehicle lulled her to sleep. She didn't remember him taking her out of the car, or putting her on the couch. She also didn't remember him putting a pillow under her head or a blanket over her.

She was dreaming. Faces of mammals. Prey, predator. She couldn't tell them apart. They were all smiling, happy. Everyone was happy, together. She was walking through Zootopia and it was different. No one looked at her with fear, no one was wearing a collar. Where was she? Some kind of festival, there was confetti falling. She was holding paws with someone…she turned around…Leo? He was smiling ear to ear at her…he pointed up at a banner. She tried to read it but she couldn't make out what was written. All she knew was that she felt happy.

She woke to the smell of food, her stomach growled and she obeyed. Peeking over the couch, she perked her ears up and asked, "Share?"

Leo laughed and said, "Duh, we're roommates now. You're cleaning up though."

"Nice." She hopped over the couch, careful not to catch her paw and peeked at what he was making. Some kind of meat with peppers. It smelled great. She made coffee. After food and caffeine, she felt way better than she had the night before.

Leo was leaned back in his chair and had a look like he wanted to have a serious conversation again. Juliet braced herself, but Leo's phone made its 'waaaatchaaa' noise. He got up and checked it, reading while he walked back to the table. He clicked to dial someone. Juliet looked out of the window at the sandy dunes of Sahara square.

Leo said into the phone, "Hey, Judy. What's up?"

Juliet perked her ears to the conversation. From what she could hear, they had found a link to SafariCorp. A cover company being used to launder money into illegal research on collars. Leo asked, "What is the place called?"

Juliet couldn't believe what she heard, so she stole the phone from Leo and asked, "Say again?"

Judy responded, "Juliet?"

"yeah, just say that again…"

"The Tomcat Lounge. Some Club in Tundratown."

"Shave me, you are kidding." She handed the phone back to Leo and walked out of the room. Leo told Judy he would call her back, hung up and followed Juliet. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "What is it?"

"You remember when I said I ran into Kansas yesterday?"

He was taken aback, "Yeah?"

"Well he invited me for a drink at his new club. Guess what the name was?"

Leo tapped his fist against the wall, "The Tomcat Lounge?"

She crossed her arms and clicked her tongue, ducking under his arm to the living room. She got back under the covers and put them over her head. She wanted to just disappear. Once they found out she had a connection to Kansas, she was going to have to talk to the creep, and she knew it. Her collar beeped. She sighed.

Leo sat on the floor next to the couch and leaned against it. She could hear his claw clicking on his phone screen, he was texting. Probably telling them about Kansas. She snuck her paw out from under the covers as sneakily as she could and snatched his phone; pulling in under the blanket with her. Leo yelled, "hey!" She made no response.

He tapped on the blanket. "Can I get that back?"

She said, "No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Juliet, please give back my phone."

"Make me."

He got up and left the room. She looked at his phone screen. It was locked of course; in some complicated pattern she wasn't going to figure out. A text popped up in the corner, this one said Nick in the 'from' space. She stayed under the blanket. She still hadn't decided if she was going to help them or not. Another text appeared, also from Nick. She chuckled, the fox was impatient, too bad. She had Leo's phone. Where was he?

She threw back the covers to look for him. She barely saw his outline before she was blasted with water from a squirt gun. She bristled from head to paw and her collar shocked her. All she squeaked out was, "What the…"

Leo laughed maniacally; amused with himself. Juliet handed him the phone, defeated. He handed her a towel he had stashed nearby in return. She started toweling off and preening her tail. It wasn't often that Leo fought back, but he got her this time.

He looked over the texts in his phone while she dried off. After a few minutes he sighed and said, "Nick wants to call a meeting with everyone. Including you."


	16. Chapter 16 - The Tomcat Lounge

Chapter 16 – The Tomcat Lounge

Juliet had reluctantly agreed to the meeting. They got there before everyone else and Leo enjoyed regaling Nick with the story of blasting Juliet with the squirt gun. Juliet was not so amused by the story, and was picking at the edge of the chair with her claws.

Nick's reply was, "If I know anything about females, you have it coming. From her reputation, it's not going to be pretty." He was chewing on Pawpsicle stick. Juliet actually smiled, the guy was funny at least. Leo looked a little worried.

Juliet remarked, "Watch it fox, once I get the go-ahead from the bunny, you're on the list too." She smiled at him. Nick stopped chewing on the stick. Leo laughed so hard he snorted.

Everyone arrived and settled into the office. It was dusty and had an old sofa, three chairs, a barstool, and a desk covered in unorganized papers. Surprisingly, it was Abigail that started the conversation, "So, we have come across some info. We found a cover operation for SafariCorp. We may have a lead to figure out who is running the whole shebang. There is a catch. It just so happens this lead is an enemy of a particularly new feline member of our little troupe. And It gets better, he also happens to want a piece of her in that way."

Juliet made a gagging noise, "Its name is Kansas. He told me himself that he bought into the place. Invited me for a drink, among other things."

Abigail continued, "Well, I have an idea, after a little recon, I have discovered the lounge is a less that reputable establishment."

Nick coughed, "strip joint"

Judy elbowed him. Abigail cleared her throat and continued, "So to get in there and get the information we need us girls are going to need to look less than…"

Juliet waved her paws, "Whoa, whoa…us girls? Are you asking me to actually talk to Kansas voluntarily? I am not sure I am capable of that with my collar working. I get shocked when he hits on me, you really have no idea. He is the sleezebag of sleezebags."

Finnick took his sunglasses off and rustled around his toolbox for a minute before saying, "I might be able to disable your collar for an hour or more if you need it. It won't be easy, and it won't be a sure thing. We need the info. We can't fight a shadow. If this guy has the information we need, and you can get it, then we need your help."

Juliet sighed. "Shave me. Fine. As long as the bunny and the cat are going with me. I am not going alone."

Leo put his paw on her arm, "You don't have to do this."

"Yeah, I do. I am in this now. It's a chance to change things. Maybe what happened to me won't ever happen again."

Leo flinched, "I haven't heard you talk about that in years."

She closed her eyes, "Don't get choked up about it. Let's do this."

Leo had to go to work, so Juliet went with Judy and Abigail. Judy was just as nervous as she was. Apparently this was the sort of place that Abigail was known to frequent, so she had plenty of attire. They went to her place to get suited up. Apparently, that was a poor choice of vocabulary on Juliet's part. Abigail's taste in clothes required very little fabric at all.

She put Judy in a sparkly blue top that came to a v at the bottom, and tight black pants. Judy kept pulling the top up or down. She put Juliet in a slinky black dress with a slit up the side. Juliet complained about wearing a dress. Abigail explained that it was the only thing she had in her size, she was the tallest of the three. On Juliet it came to mid-knee, on Abigail it was floor-length. It would serve its purpose in getting Kansas attention. Juliet put her face in her paw and twitched her tail, this was going to be horrible. She might as well make it a show. She put her best face on and took a deep breath. This was for a good reason, so she was going to give it her best effort.

They left for Tundratown in Abigail's car. Juliet had to duck a bit. She was not accustomed to being the bigger one, it was a bit of a switch. Before they got out, Abigail disabled Juliet's collar as Finnick had instructed. They all looked at each other; they were scared to death, but ready to go.

There was a line outside of the lounge. Judy and Abigail went to get in the line, but Juliet knew better. She sauntered up to the bouncer, waving to the girls to follow her. She put on a fake smile and batted her eyes at the wolf at the door. He looked down at her wordlessly. She said sweetly, "Can you let Kansas know that Juliet is here with two of her friends?"

The wolf got on a radio and very quickly let them in ahead of the whole line. She gave the wolf a wink and they went in. Judy looked a Juliet in disbelief, Abigail giggled and said, "You weren't kidding when you said this guy was out for you. This should be interesting."

The music was very loud, and there were flashing lights everywhere. It made her head hurt to watch most of it. Almost everything was lined in some manner of velvet. The whole place stunk of alcohol and musk. She wanted to cover her nose, but she was supposed to want to be there so she resisted the urge. There were mammals everywhere hooting and cat calling. She tried to avoid looked at the cougar on stage with nothing on but her fur. Judy had her paw over her face. Juliet scanned the crowd looking for a cowboy hat when she heard, "Hey, purty thang, I knew you couldn't stay away forever."

All three of them turned to the right to see Kansas in a black outfit studded in rhinestones. He sparkled in all of the lights. They walked over to him and Juliet leaned in to him to say, "It is really loud in here, is there somewhere more…private we can go?"

"Oh, anything for you, sweet thang." He looked her up and down like a piece of meat and put his paw on the small of her back to lead her out of the room. Judy and Abigail both dragged their jaws across the floor at his familiar behavior. Juliet felt like she could vomit or run, or vomit and run.

He led them to a VIP room. The room was lined with red velvet seats and there was a glass table in center with a bottle of liquor on ice. There were three glasses ready to go for them. They each sat down. Juliet sat next to Kansas, reluctantly.

He poured them each a glass and asked, "So to what do I owe this most pleasant occasion?"

Juliet finished her entire glass and set it on the table. She flicked her ear and said, "I was curious about your new venture. Bounty hunting doesn't tend to pay enough to get into business. Do you have a silent partner, Kansas."

He leaned back against the cushion and scooted closer to her, "You're getting me all tingly talking about partners, sugar. How did you know?"

The girls just sat, flabbergasted. Neither of them touched their glasses or moved. Juliet flicked her eyes to them to see if them would at least breathe…nothing. She sighed and replied, "Well, word on the street is that you are getting involved with SafariCorp."

Kansas darkened."Hm. You are too smart for your own good, darling. I like that about you. Dynamite. Why does any of this matter to you, huh? And who are these lovely ladies you have brought with you this evening?"

Juliet thought fast and replied, "They are to make up for handcuffing you in the cold, see. I thought you might like them. You two want to come over here." She nodded her head toward Kansas. She hoped they would get the hint.

Judy jumped up, she seemed to understand, and she grabbed Abigail up and they came over. Judy led Abigail to one side of Kansas and she went to the other. Juliet stood up in front of him.

He said, "Ooh boy, this is getting spicy. I knew you were something; I just didn't know what."

Juliet leaned toward Kansas with a smile and said, "Now."

Judy grabbed one of his arms, and seeing her, Abigail grabbed the other, knocking his drink to the floor. Juliet took a large step and put pressure on his family jewels. She growled and said, "So here is how this is going to go, Kansas. You are going to tell me who is running SafariCorp, or I am going to crush the boys like a couple of grapes."

He looked at the three of them and said, "Wow. You are one heck of a girl. I will give you the info on one condition."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "What?"

He leaned forward as far as he could and whispered, "You gotta kiss me."

She laughed, "You are kidding."

He leaned back. "One kiss, I will tell you anything you want. Though, if I am right. Which I always am, you are pure as peach pie. You haven't touched or been touched, am I right? It would be your first kiss?"

Both of the girls scowled and grabbed ahold of him harder, he didn't seem to notice. He had locked onto Juliet. He was right. She had never kissed anyone. It would be her first kiss. Was it worth it? Was her first kiss worth the freedom of every predator in Zootopia? Even Kansas?


	17. Chapter 17 - Fair Trade?

Chapter 17 – Fair trade?

"Well, what do you say, darling? Fair trade?" He smiled at her. It made her fur stand on end.

She looked away and said, "Judy, Abigail…let him go." They looked at her with puzzled expressions and let him go.

He shook his arms out and straightened his shirt, he put a paw up and curled his finger to beckon her to him. She could feel anger and disgust inside her. All she could think of was Leo. She put the thought from her head and lunged toward Kansas.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and put her knee into his chest. She planted the kiss on him. He put everything he had into it. His hand tried to travel, but she swatted it away. He smiled beneath the kiss and she moved back and wiped her muzzle.

He had a lusty grin on his face and said, "Aww, what a taste of heaven. A bit of paradise. "

"Spill" she spat the word at him.

Kansas lifted his hat up with his thumb and said, "A deal is a deal. You're looking for a jackal named Kade. SafariCorp is based out of the building that has all them sparkly green leaves on it. They have some testing facility there where they work on collars. I got what I wanted, I don't need them anymore. You change your mind now that you got a taste o' sugar sweetheart, you know where to find me." He winked at Juliet.

Juliet went to walk out of the room, but before she could leave Judy jumped up and slapped Kansas across the face. She pointed at him and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself, as an officer of the ZPD, I will have my eye on you."

Kansas looked utterly flabbergasted. The girls left in much better spirits after Judy did that. They went back to Wilde Times and rested in Nicks office. She was hoping that Nick was able to use the information they got. All she could do was stare out the window and think about what Leo was going to think about her.

Abigail brought her a cup of warm tea and sat next to her. She put her paw on her back and said, "Now I don't pretend to know anything about males, but I know that anyone that cares about somebody has love and understanding for them. From what I have seen from Leo, he is crazy about you. Just tell him the truth, he should understand. Don't beat yourself up for doing what you thought was right. After all, that is what he was doing all along."

She looked at Abigail and said, "You're right. He always does what is right. If there is anyone that is going to understand, it's gonna be Leo, right?"

"That boy makes the rest of us feel like we outta go to church on Sunday." They enjoyed a laugh together.

Nick stormed into the office and said, "Well, you all look lovely." That comment met with glares from all three females in the room. He immediately changed the subject. "That info checks out. Carrots looked up the board of directors for SarfariCorp and there's our Jackel." He plopped into a spinning chair and put on a satisfied grin.

Juliet turned around and asked, "I have a question. What is in it for you? Why does a fox give an anything about any of this?"

Nick looked up at her and the smug look on his face faded, he sighed and got up from the chair. He stood next to her and replied, "Everybody asks me that. I don't go into detail but, let's say we have more in common than you might think."

Juliet caught the meaning. She looked into the teacup and said, "Your father?"

"He checked out. Then one day he shorted out. I happened to be the closest thing." He looked at his claws like it was nothing.

Shorting out was something that Juliet had heard of. It was when a mammal loses their mind from being shocked with a collar. Too many times, just the right time, no one is sure. They haul them off to some loony bin somewhere and no one sees them again. The problem is, someone usually gets hurt in the process, usually several someone's. The press calls it an 'unfortunate side effect' of the collars.

She inhaled and said, "Well that answers that. So, how did Leo get wrapped up in this? He doesn't exactly fit the bill."

Nick laughed he seemed happy to change the subject, "Oh ninja boy? He was wandering around the park one day and asked for a job. He kept coming back every day for like six months before I finally got tired of hearing from him and gave him a broom. I thought that would get rid of him. After a while, he overheard us and wanted in. It just kind of happened. Not nearly as exciting as his best friend. You guys remind me of carrots and I in a lot of ways."

"Oh yeah?"

Judy perked an ear up to their conversation. Juliet and Nick turned toward her.

"Oh yeah. Carrots wants to be a hero and no one believes in her. I am a fox, and I am adorable, so I get away with everything. I also get into a little bit of trouble from time to time. You also have a remarkably short fuse, just like Carrots." Judy glared at Nick, who laughed and continued, "Also…I have a bike, too. Speaking of which, Leo had me get your bike out from under the overpass. It needs work."

She bounced a bit, it did make her happy to hear her bike was in one piece. "Where is he? My bike?"

"At Richards house, he does all the work on mine. Might take a while, and consider the cost for the repairs taken care of, it's a favor for the info. Your bike is a he?"

"Will do, he better not put a scratch on it. Yes, and you are still on my list."

"Anyone ever tell you that you have trust issues?"

"This coming from a fox? I trust mammals after they come through for me, not before. And yeah, Okay, maybe once or twice"

Judy interjected, "Nick, she is a bounty hunter. Her job is to bring in untrustworthy mammals. Of course she has trust issues. You should see some of the mammals she goes after, and she can't even use a tranquilizer."

Juliet added, "I actually wanted to be an officer, but prey aren't allowed. So bounty hunting was the next best thing. I make it work."

Judy put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, which made her shirt sparkle, "The ZPD could use an officer like you."

Juliet couldn't help herself, "Well if they are recruiting rabbits now, things must be bad. What possessed you to be an officer?"

"I always wanted to be an officer, since I was a kid! It hasn't been easy. I didn't realize that things were this bad until I got here. I want to make the world a better place, and working with Nick seems to be the best way to do that. Predators deserve the same chance as anyone else at a happy life. It's not possible with a tazer strapped to your neck. I had Finnick put one on me for an hour, I couldn't take it!"

Juliet smiled, "No kidding. That's brave."

Nick laughed, "Her legs kept kicking when it would go off."

Judy narrowed her eyes at him, "It didn't help that you kept calling me cute over and over again, trying to set the thing off!"

Nick replied, "I just wanted to make sure you got an authentic experience, Carrots"

They continued back and forth for a minute that way. Juliet listened, amused by the banter. Abigail sipped on tea and watched as well. Juliet leaned over and asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

Abigail replied, "Oh constantly. Nick loves giving her a hard time. She just feeds into it. Do you need a ride home?"

"I would love one, but I don't have a key yet. I have to wait for Leo to get off work. I think he gets off work in an hour or so. Hey, Nick!"

He stopped and looked at her. She asked him, "What exactly are you planning to do next?"

He replied, "I am going to call Muscle and see if I can't have a friendly conversation with our new jackal friend or someone that knows him really well."

Judy warned, "Niiick" and they were off back and forth again. Juliet shook her head and looked back out of the window.

At least the fox didn't want her to do it. She really didn't feel like being a team player right now. She had already taken one for the team. All she wanted right now was a change of clothes and a shower. She was intrigued at the idea of what exactly "Muscle" meant. She caught herself imagining Finnick interrogating someone. She amused herself with the thought.

The hour went by glacially slow. Nick and Judy's banter kept her at least marginally entertained. Abigail was completely enthralled by it. She found it hilarious, often adding to the conflict.

Nicks phone vibrated and he looked at the text. He shook the phone at Juliet and said, "Wonderboy is waiting upstairs for you. Give him a kiss for me would you."

Juliet sniggered at him, "I knew there was something off about you, fox."

He made a choking noise and said, "Not what I meant…" Judy and Abigail laughed and said goodbye.


	18. Chapter 18 - Have Mine

Chapter 18 – Have mine

He had his head against the steering wheel when she got in the car. He didn't look up at her until she opened the door. When he looked over at her his eyes opened wide and dilated. He said, "What are you wearing?"

She sat in the seat and shut the door, saying, "I really don't want to talk about it. Did Nick or Abigail tell you anything?"

He just kept staring at her and didn't respond. She waved a paw in front of his face and he finally blinked. He swallowed and said, "Uh, I talked to Finnick. He said you got some information that was really helpful. Otherwise, no. What happened?"

She crossed her arms and said, "Can we just go home? I will tell you about it after a shower. I need to wash the smell of creep off of me. I might need to borrow a change of clothes too; I have nothing clean."

"Uh, yeah sure. Wow. That is a first. You never called the hostile home. I am kind of flattered."

She looked at him as he started the car. She tried to remember back. There had to be sometime in all the years she stayed there that she called that place home? Huh, maybe not.

She caught Leo peeking sideways glances at her the whole drive home. She pulled the dress down, she felt really awkward dressed like that. She practically ran into the shower when they got there.

She wrapped in a towel after the shower and yelled from the bathroom that she needed a change of clothes. After getting a shirt and sweatpants from Leo to wear, she settled onto the couch and took a deep breath. She felt a million times better. Leo was watching a dubbed-over Kung-Fu movie. There was a gazelle and a rhino fighting, that is all she understood.

He muted the TV and asked her, "So are you going to tell me what happened? Judy and Abigail both texted me and told me that they are going to cause serious bodily harm to Kansas. Judy isn't the violent type, so something happened. You aren't getting out of this one. I locked the doors and windows."

She sighed. Closing her eyes, she started telling him the story of what happened in the lounge. The further into the story she got, the tenser he became. When she got to the part about Kansas asking for the kiss in exchange for information, his collar beeped. She asked him, "You want me to keep going? Or do you get the drift?"

He growled, "No…tell me all of it. I want to know so when I find that son-of-a-stray I know exactly why I am strangling the life out of him." His collar shocked him and he put his paws up to it in pain. Juliet leaned across the couch to help, but there was nothing she could do. Leo rarely got shocked by his collar, and it bothered her more than usual.

She watched him take time to control his breathing for a few minutes. He finally asked, "That was your first kiss wasn't it?"

She started to cry, "Yes. That is exactly why he asked for it. I decided that it was worth it."

Leo leaned forward on the couch and rubbed his paws on his face. "You know. I started helping them to feel like I was making a difference. Then I wanted you to be a part of it, too. Ever since I started trying to bring you in, you have lost everything you had. Your home, your bike, you…you're losing too much Juliet. I never wanted this. You just keep going for it, you keep fighting for it when anyone else would give up. It's not fair to you."

She was sobbing now, "Not fair for who Leo? This is what it is. You brought me in, and now I get to fight. To actually make a change for something. Not just a criminal here or there, but actually change the world. That is worth anything."

He looked at her and then out of the window of the living room. He said softly, "Do you remember what I said after we picked you up from the hospital when your Dad beat you to a pulp?"

She inhaled, her collar sent a warning. She felt the pain of old scars, but she replied, "You said that I never had to go back, that it wasn't my fault. Broken preds, break things."

"It is still true."

"What do you mean, Leo? I don't understand." She didn't, he was looking at her now. He had a strange, soft look in his eyes. She remembered sitting in his living room and hearing him say those words. They meant so much to her then, they helped her understand why her father would cause her pain. But why say them now?

"Juliet. You are broken. I don't want to see you break anything. Kansas took something from you today that you can never get back, but you can have mine." He sat up and leaned in toward her face.

Her entire body screamed to move closer to him. She understood the meaning in his words. So many years and he had never loved anyone else. She could feel his breath on her face. He put his paw behind her ear, and she felt all of the pain she had locked away just dissolve into the ether. Her muzzle met his and the world went away.

All of her life she fought for good in the world, not knowing what love was. In this moment, she felt a part of her bloom. A light inside of her grew brighter until she felt warm and safe. She reached up and embraced Leo in the kiss. He had been watching over her all of this time, just waiting for her. She had been such a fool to run from him. She was running from love.

His embrace tightened and he pulled her closer. The warmth grew and she felt it begin to brew into an energy. The closeness was addicting, she wanted to melt into him. The kiss deepened and her collar beeped a warning.

Damn.

They both stopped, breathing heavily. Leo whispered, "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that, but we should stop before one of us gets hurt, is that okay?"

Juliet pulled away slightly and nuzzled his neck, "No, but it will have to do."

He grabbed ahold of her and pulled her onto his chest. He turned the volume back on the TV, not letting go of her. She loved the closeness of him, and began to purr. He chuckled and kept his paw around her until she fell asleep. She was the happiest she had ever been in her life. Her dreams were incoherent visions of jungles and reflecting pools.

"Wake up sleepyhead." Leo's voice echoed in her head. She stretched out on the couch and sat up. It was well into daylight outside. Leo sat next to her and handed her a cup of coffee, kissing her on the ear and sitting next to her dangerously close and placing a paw on her back.

She smelled the coffee, sipped it and leaned onto him. "You're really enjoying this aren't you, Leo."

He sipped his own coffee and said, "Does it make me a jerk to say, Ooooh yeaah."

She giggled and replied, "No. I am curious exactly how long you have had a crush on me."

He laughed and spilled a little coffee, but responded, "Pretty much since the fifth grade. You are not an easy mammal to love, by the way."

She swirled the coffee in the mug and said, "I am who I am."

He nuzzled her, "I wouldn't have you any other way. You are absolutely amazing Juliet. Does this make us official? I would really love to make us official. It would make me really, really happy."

She furrowed her brow and said, "Leo's girlfriend? Hmmm…I don't know."

He sat silently, she took it as a bad sign and corrected the mistake, "Of course it's official, idiot. Geez. You need to lighten up." She poked him in the ribs, making him spill coffee.

He exhaled in relief. Then he got that look on his face that meant he wanted to say something serious.

Juliet sighed, "What is it?"

He said, "Nothing."

"Liar. You have that dumb look on your face that you get. The serious Leopold face."

He smiled and inhaled, "Well, I was hoping you would want to sync up collars…just in case…y'know. So stuff like last night doesn't go wrong. I don't want to be responsible for causing you any pain."

"Uh huh, sure. That is why, totally." She rolled her eyes and got up to use the restroom. He stood up to go after her with worried look on his face. She stopped him, "Leo…I was kidding. I have to pee. Gimme a minute."

She used the opportunity to escape and breathe for a moment. There was usually one reason to sync up collars, to mate. When collars are synced in means that if they are within three or four feet of each other and they are activated they will not go off. You have to go in and apply for a license to have your collar synced. It basically was a billboard announcing you are having hanky-panky with someone. She took a deep breath. This was Leo, it wasn't like he was going to want to jump right into all of that. He was male though, so…there was that.

She splashed her face with cold water to help clear her mind and made a decision. When she came out of the restroom, Leo was leaning against the couch with his coffee, looking nervous. It was cute. She walked over to him and put her paws on the back of the couch on either side of him and said, "Yes."

He asked, "Yes what?"

"Yes, I will sync my collar with yours."

He grabbed her in a hug and spun her around. When he put her down he kissed her. She didn't realize he was so affectionate, but she liked it. He looked at her hopefully and said, "today?"

She laughed, "Jeez, what are you in hurry for? It takes weeks to get a license."

He pulled her close and bopped her on the nose. "Not when you know two fantastic collar technicians. They can sync our collars by dinner. We should get you some clothes and stuff too, since you are going to be living here. Let's get ready."

So much for not jumping into things. She laughed to herself, he had put some thought into this. A lot of thought into this. She had just been jumping from job to job, completely unaware. He had been planning a future. She felt a bit of guilt about it.

She asked, "Don't you work?"

"Called in. Jaz understands. I told her what was going on" He was in the other room.

Juliet grabbed her coffee and sipped it. It was strange to think that maybe she was happy. She had Leo. She had found something to fight for, something worthwhile. Sure, they were going to sync up collars, but what if they didn't have them at all?

What if she could be with Leo in freedom? If she didn't have to worry about anything, stop for anything? Complete bliss. Leo had spent so much time waiting for her. He deserved to have what he wanted too. That was worth fighting for. As soon as she was able, she was getting out there and taking down this SafariCorp. Now that she had something to protect, there was nothing going to stop her from saving every predator in Zootopia.

She watched the sun rise over the dunes of Sahara Square. She wasn't running anymore.

Now, she was hunting.


	19. Chapter 19 - Moonlight

Chapter 19 - Moonlight

"Those are not pants. Those are circus tents strapped to your legs, Leo." Juliet laughed at him while enjoying a pawpsicle.

"They are hakama pants."

"Bless you"

"Ha ha, very funny. They are for Kendo training. They are actually really comfortable." He shook a leg to show her.

"You aren't going to win this one Leo." She admired a scarf in the window of one of the shops. It was black with roses on it.

"You want it?" Leo put his arm around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. She looked at him sideways and said, "Now, just because you are my boyfriend doesn't mean I am going to let you buy me stuff. I will find some way to make money without Nick's bounty, or my bike."

He kissed her shoulder and mumbled, mm-hhm. She watched him walk away and took another look at the scarf. She wondered exactly how she was going to get by. Things were changing so fast; she wasn't really sure of anything right now.

They finished shopping and headed for the park. Finnick was fiddling with Nick's collar when they got to the office. Leo asked what was going on. Finnick replied, "It's a little touchy, that's all. Probably from being turned on and off so much. What are you two doing here?"

Nick looked over at Leo and asked, "What are those?"

Leo sighed, "Hakama pants."

Nick said, "Bless you"

Juliet snorted, "Already did that one, buddy."

Nick snapped his fingers looked disappointed, Leo rolled his eyes. Juliet looked at Leo, sticking out her hip and waving her hand to indicate that it was up to him to ask. He nodded and said, "I was actually hoping you would do me a solid, Finnick."

Finnick and Nick both looked at him suspiciously and Finnick said, "Oh yeah, what's that?"

Leo inhaled and asked, "Would you maybe sync up mine and Juliet's collars?"

Nick let out a loud, "HA! I knew it…I win the pool." And stuck out a paw to Finnick, who handed him money. Juliet put her arms up and said, "Seriously, guys, there was a pool?"

Nick shrugged and said, "Yep. I said you guys would hook up after you found me. Everyone thought it was going to be months ago. I just have this sixth sense, y'know?"

Juliet threw her Pawpsicle stick in the trashcan and said, "uh huh, sure. Finnick, can you help us out or not?"

Finnick shook his head yes and said, "Gimme ten to finish up with Nicko here and I will get you guys fixed up."

Nick said to Juliet, "Hey, Richard is almost done with your bike. He is going to bring it by Leo's place when it is done. I will let him know to watch for a tie on the door."

Leo put a paw on his face, "Nick! Dude, seriously it's not like that."

Juliet laughed and punched Leo on the arm, "Take a joke, Leo. At least you've got a girl." Finnick and Nick glared at Juliet, who gave them a smart aleck smile.

Finnick finished with Nick and ruffled around in his tool bag for a few minutes before pulling out a keypad with two little nodes on it. He sat between the two of them and started reading the numbers on their collars and punching them into the keypad. Once he entered both sets of numbers, he put the nodes against each collar in turn and that was that.

Juliet asked, "That is it? Really? Why does it take weeks to get a license?"

Finnick replied, "Population control".

Juliet felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. If that was true, what else were they using collars to control? Just one more reason to stop it all. Juliet looked at Nick and asked, "Hey, do you need any help with getting that Jackal?"

He replied, "Well, actually there is a bit of a kink in that plan. Turns out, that the only way in if you don't work there, is to volunteer to be a test subject for collar studies."

"What? Like a lab rat?"

"Exactly. I got Muscles in there, but I haven't heard from him since he went in. We should hear from him tonight if he sees anything. Meanwhile, Carrots is working on using her pull as an officer to get in. I have a few more mammals trying to get in too. The place is locked up tighter than a beaver dam."

"Seems like they have something to hide."

"A lot of somethings. Until we get some word from my buddy Muscles, you two can go test out your new collar feature." He grinned.

"Keep in touch." She grabbed Leo's hand and thanked Finnick.

They got back and set up a hammock and some personal affects for Juliet. She insisted, she didn't like sleeping on the ground. She also wasn't ready for the 'share a room' step just yet. Besides, she liked having her own space anyway. Leo hovered a bit, and she found it adorable, but a little smothering. He was acting like she was going to disappear or change her mind or something.

He stood in the doorway of the room while she made her bed. She said, "You know I am not going to explode, or run, or anything. I am a big girl; I don't need a babysitter."

He looked taken aback, "I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to babysit. I just still can't believe…."

She walked over to him and said, "Can't believe what? That I like you too? That it took me losing everything else in my life to see that? I am not going anywhere Leo. Relax. I synced up my collar to yours today, that should be evidence enough that I don't plan to run." She kissed him on the cheek.

He put his paw on her cheek and pushed her muzzle to his, kissing her full on the mouth. His aggression was apparent. She didn't know this side of him, but she liked it. He put his arms around her, pulling her close, kissing her deeper. He broke the kiss and whispered in her ear, "Juliet, I love you."

Her entire body vibrated with energy, she expected her collar to react. Then she remembered that it wasn't going to, as long as he was near. It made her happy to know she could feel whatever she wanted when she was with him. She nibbled his ear. He laughed and asked, "What is this?"

She responded, "What? You are the only one that can flirt? I actually like cuddling you, is that a crime? I can go turn myself into the bunny." She couldn't help it, she let out a yawn. She was tired. He grabbed her by the paw, leading her to the back of the apartment. He opened the door and showed her in. She shot him a look, but didn't argue.

The walls were covered in posters of Asian symbols, and photos of her. On the bed was a black bedspread with red dragons, and the purple duck.

She said, "Aww, you did keep him for me." She jumped on the bed and cuddled the duck. Leo laid gently on the bed next to her and put a paw on her waist. She turned and laid on her back, looking around the room. There was a skylight in the ceiling that was letting in some rays of moonlight that played along the wall.

"You really have been waiting for me for a long time, haven't you? It's really sweet and really creepy at the same time."

He just looked at her, like he was afraid it was all a dream. She turned toward him and poked his nose. "You alive in there?"

"Yeah. More alive than ever."

She snuggled up to him and began to purr. He put his paw on her back and nuzzled her, purring as well. They lay there for some time like that. Juliet asked, "Do you practice what to say?"

He chuckled, "Actually, I have had a long time to think about what to say. So I guess that I might have practiced once or twice."

"That is so not fair." He was so warm.

"Neither was watching you every day, wanting to kiss you. Wanting to hold you and tell you how I feel. I just wasn't sure you felt the same."

Oh that was it. She grabbed a hold of him and kissed him. She pulled herself as close to him as she could manage. He stiffened a bit at first, surprised, but joined the energy. He was just as enthusiastic. She could feel his energy mix with hers, and she let herself feel it. He seemed hesitant.

She whispered to him, "Leo, it's okay. Let go. It's just us. Neither of us is going to get hurt."

He growled and pushed her to the bed beneath him, kissing her.


	20. Chapter 20 - Jaz

Chapter 20 – Jaz

"What do you mean you 'may' have lost a six-foot bear?" Abigail shouted at Nick.

He put his hands up and shrugged and said, "Well we haven't heard from him and we can't contact him so we figure that means bad." He chewed on a pawpsicle stick and looked at everyone in the room.

Juliet sighed, she figured that things were going to go wrong. In fact, she knew it. She was just too busy enjoying her time with Leo to really care enough to say something. She felt guilt welling up in her throat about it and swallowed it back. Well, she might as well volunteer to fix it. She said, "So, are we going to go get him?"

Nick smiled and pointed the stick at her, "Ha ha! That's the spirit. Rescue mission. We go in and get the bear out. We need a plan."

Juliet got out from under Leo's cradling arm and asked, "Do you have any pictures, plans, photos, anything about the building he is in at all?" She looked around at the mammals in the room. She was met with various downward glances and guilty stares. "Right, so I am going to need Judy's number, because I am going to see if she can get me blueprints or security footage or something. If I have to, I will recon the place myself. I can't believe you sent him in there without knowing anything about it!"

Finnick chuckled, "You don't send Muscles in somewhere, he goes. He is as crazy as you, but doesn't talk much. Hasn't Nick told you about him?"

Juliet rolled her eyes and elbowed Nick, "No, he is remarkably silent when it comes to telling me anything."

Finnick said, "Muscles is a spirit bear, which means he is a black bear, but he is white. He is also big, even for a bear. He also works out. Anyway, he dropped out of school because after he got his collar, he could handle it. So he isn't real educated. So he made a living being a bodyguard, or as much of one as he could. Poor guy was so fried by his collar when he showed up at the clinic. Nick has been letting him crash in the park so he doesn't have to have his collar on all the time. Made a complete turnaround, might as well be a teddy bear now. He also jumps anytime Nick says so."

Juliet looked at Nick, who shrugged. He didn't strike her as the Good-Samaritan type, but not everyone is what they seem. It sounded like Muscles was a good mammal, and that's all she cared about. She put her hand out to Nick.

He said, "What?"

"I need Judy's number."

"Oh." He fumbled for his phone and scrolled through. He showed her the number. She put it into her phone, and noticed the background was a picture of Judy. She smiled and said, "Hey, nice pic of Carrots on the desktop there, Nicko". He bristled and stuck the phone in his pocket, whistling. There were raised eyebrows across every face in the room.

She called Judy and placed her request. Judy was unsure of what she could do, but said she would try anyway. With nothing else able to be done she and Leo returned home. Leo showered for work and Juliet threw together some sandwiches for lunch. Leo came out brushing his teeth when there was a knock at the door.

He opened it and shouted, "Hey, babe." Juliet paused for a moment at the pet name, but decided she would address it later. She wiped her hands and went to the door.

She saw the wolverine and immediately bolted outside, skidding in the sand. There it was, her bike. It was waxed and shining in the heat of the Sahara sun. They had painted it with the visage of a rose growing between claw rips down the gas tank. Tied to the handlebars was the scarf she had admired in the store window. She looked at Leo with a disapproving look, but he pretended not to notice. He was getting the keys and her helmet from Richard.

Richard handed over Juliet's helmet, and a spare. He said that Nick had insisted. Juliet was excited, it meant that Leo had no excuse not to go with a ride with her. She ran a claw up the seat to the handlebars and straddled the metal beast. She nuzzled it and purred loudly. She put her paws on the handlebars and it felt good.

Richard chuckled and said, "If only I could find a mate that would like me as much as she loves that bike. You are a lucky fella Leo."

Leo replied, "Oh. I know."

She hopped off the bike to run over and get the keys and her helmet. She turned around, saw the scarf and paused. She said, "Put the helmet on, Leo. We are going for a ride."

He said, "Oh no way…I have to work."

"Then I am taking you to work."

"It's really not necessary Juliet. We can go later"

"You owe me for getting me the scarf." She turned around and poked him in the chest. Richard saluted Leo and left on a café racer.

"How do I owe you?" He asked, defiantly.

"You just do, quit being a scaredy cat and get on the bike."

He sighed and disappeared into the apartment for a moment, he came back out with a backpack and his uniform shirt on before locking the door. He put the helmet on securely and took a deep breath. She ran giddily over to the bike and put her helmet on. She tied the scarf around her neck and tucked it in her shirt so it wouldn't whip in the wind. He sat behind her and said, "You smell good."

"Flattery is not going to get you out of this, Leo." She smiled anyway.

She thought she heard him curse as she roared the bike to life, she wheeled it out of the drive. As soon as she took her paws off of the road, Leo grabbed onto her midsection tightly. He was really strong. She pulled back on the throttle and the sound of the bike energized her. She gave a yell and surged forward.

She had an ulterior motive for bringing Leo along. His proximity meant her collar was not going to go off during her ride. That meant she could get as excited as she wanted. She hugged the curves and roared through the streets of Zootopia with abandon. It was amazing. Leo pulled tighter to her and sat up straighter. He was starting to get the hang of the movements, and before long he was laughing. He was enjoying it too.

Shortly before they arrived at the bar, his paws loosened and she could feel his breath on her neck. He was breathing heavily and there was a smile in his voice, "I understand why you like it so much now. We are going to have to do this again."

She parked behind the bar in the loading dock and took her helmet off, shaking her ears. She gave him a kiss and said, "I will pick you up after work. Babe." She put a little bit of sarcasm into the name.

He got off of the bike, stumbled a bit and replied. "I was wondering if you would catch that. Do you like it? Or do you want me to use something else?"

She put her hand on her hip and said, "I will think about it. I think I am going to come in and have a drink too. If you don't mind your girlfriend being at work with you." He looked toward the bar and back at Juliet with a grin, "Sure, I would love to show you off." She felt like she should be annoyed, but just laughed.

They didn't make it all the way into the bar before Jaz intercepted them and said, "Where do y'all think you're going?"

She was sitting on a palette in the loading dock and scared Juliet badly enough for her tail to bristle. If Leo hadn't been so close, her collar would have gone off. Jaz laughed. Leo shot Jaz a disappointed look and asked, "What's going on?"

Jaz hopped down off of the palette and waved for them to follow her. They went into her office. It had a slight odor of burnt pencil erasers. There was no obvious filing system at all, papers were piled and paper clipped everywhere. There was a large packet of papers nailed to the wall in one place. Juliet figured it was better not to ask.

Jaz plopped into a computer chair and asked, "SO…how is my little buddy Finn these days?"

Their jaws dropped. They couldn't form words. Jaz knew? How did she know? How long had she known? What was going on? The skunk giggled in her chair in delight. She was laughing so hard she snorted loudly. When she was able to speak again she said, "Oh Finnick said you guys were in, so I thought I would let you know I knew."

Leo shook himself out of it and asked, "How long have you known, I mean?"

She raised an eyebrow, "How long did I know you were moonlighting at the park? The whole time. I was pissed at first and scheduled you on load in every time. Then when you didn't quit I gave up. Hey, is Abigail still digging for clams?"

Juliet and Leo both looked at each other with confused looks. Jaz waved the question away, "Never mind. I just have two rules, the first one is that no secret squirrel and moose shenanigans in my joint. You do, I break you, got it?"

They shook their heads.

"And two, now that you guys have synced up, I don't want to see any PDA or hear about any of your bow-chicka-brown-cow exploits up in here, we super-green?"

Leo put his face in his palm and said, "Yes, ma'am. Juliet, just say yes."

Juliet was sure she was speaking another language, but agreed.

"Good. Now that we got that out of the way. You can get to work. That lazy pig I hired crossed the taps this morning. It's all yours to figure out. Have fun." She left the office.

Leo groaned and they followed her out. Juliet leaned over to Leo and asked, "what about brown cows" He just shook his head.

They all walked out into the bar to see everyone's head turned toward the television. They walked around the bar to see what they were looking at. The news was announcing a mandatory update to all collars in the next week.


	21. Chapter 21 - SafariCorp

Chapter 21 - SafariCorp

Juliet felt downtrodden. Every update came with bugs, and adjustments. It just made every predators life harder. Leo grabbed her paw and gave it a squeeze, reassuringly. She looked at him and shook her head that she understood.

They were going to fight, but when? She had been waiting around for Nick and his crew to do something but they weren't doing anything. Everyone was waiting for information or timing or whatever. She was going to do something, tonight.

Opting to skip the drink, she went to give him a kiss goodbye that was met with a screeching sound from Jaz. She left Leo to go start figuring out which beers were which while she beckoned Jaz to follow her.

They got out to the loading dock and Juliet asked her, "Hey you got any mail needing delivered to say…SafariCorp?"

Jaz put her hands on her hips and yelled, "I just gave y'all two rules and you go and break both in ten minutes. I tell you what, how about I go scat in a box. You can take that to SafariCorp. How 'bout it?"

She shrugged and said, "I just need a box with an address. Doesn't matter what's inside. Can you address it to a Kade?"

"I will address it to my behind." She went toward her office. Juliet got into her pocket after her phone and texted Judy where she was. She responded she was at the ZPD. Juliet responded to her that if she didn't hear from her in four hours to contact Leo's boss, a skunk named Jazmin. Judy just agreed. It made Juliet happy that Judy had such trust in mammals. They might just be able to be friends. An odd thought, Leo must be rubbing off on her.

Jaz came back with a box addressed to Kade at SafariCorp. It was well wrapped and made no noise. Juliet did not inquire, but tied it to the back of the bike with her scarf, she saluted Jaz, who made an obscene gesture in a loving way. (Only Jaz could manage that) Juliet roared the bike to life and left.

SafariCorp was located on Peak St. in the very center of Zootopia. Not far from the ZPD office that Judy worked at. The buildings were so tall that Juliet could barely see the tops of them. She rarely ventured to this part of the city if she wasn't getting or tracking a bounty. It made her nervous to be at the bottom of the tall buildings, some remnant of an instinct she guessed.

It didn't take her long to find the glass building adorned with metal sculpted green leaves. It was made to look as though it had vines growing down the sides. The façade was entirely glass, as were the elevators. No wonder it was hard to get in, you couldn't sneak if you wanted to. Good thing she was a licensed courier and had a reason to be there. Nick really should have asked earlier.

She locked up the bike and put her scarf back around her neck, covering her collar. It was pleasant to cover it as an act of defiance. She felt a little rebellious about it and it gave her confidence. She snickered a little to think what might be in the package as well.

The foyer was two floors tall and sculpted to look like a rainforest canopy. The trees were polished bronze with emerald leaves and colorful flora hanging from the ceiling. The center contained a large chandelier which resembled vines supporting lit flowers. Juliet found it beautiful, and would have looked at it in more detail if she wasn't there for a mission.

She approached the front desk and rang the bell. A portly warthog raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yes?"

"Delivery." She knew less was more when it came to being sneaky.

He looked at the package and read it. Flicking his eyes to her he put on a pair of spectacles. They were far too small for his face and Juliet had to stifle a laugh. He looked through a list and punched a few numbers into a machine, it punched out a card which read, "Guest pass".

The warthog grunted, "44th floor." With a thank you, Juliet slipped away for the elevator. On the way up she checked the buttons, none of them worked on her pass. She would have to steal one. As soon as she figured out where they had muscles. Well, at least she was in.

The door opened to another warthog receptionist, a female. She looked right at Juliet, who walked to the desk and set the box down. The warthog read it and said thank you. Juliet had to think fast, "Where is the restroom?"

The warthog looked alarmed, she stammered, "Oh, Uh…right this way." They walked around the desk and down a long hall. Juliet asked, "Been working here long?"

The warthog didn't seem to want to talk, but didn't want to be rude either and said, "About six months."

Juliet nodded and asked, "This place is pretty cool. This is where they make the collars, huh?"

She stammered, "We are not supposed to talk about it. That is not my department."

Juliet stopped, "Oh, I wasn't trying to get you in trouble. I just heard you could volunteer to help out. You know, with making them. I was wondering where you do that?"

The warthog exhaled and said, "That is downstairs on the lower ten floors, in testing. I can get you a card for that. Just don't ask any more questions. Here we are."

Juliet went into the restroom and turned on the faucet. She tried to remember where on the warthog she saw her card. She thought it was on her desk, she steeled herself for what she was going to do. She had to stay calm, if her collar went off she would give herself away and it would all be over. Waiting what she thought was the appropriate time, she shut off the water and went out.

She followed the warthog out silently. The package was gone from the desk. Juliet shook it off as they got to the desk, the card was on the side closest to the exit, good. As they approached she tried to keep her breathing even, and then the phone rang.

The warthog ran to it, her back turned. Juliet grabbed the card as quickly as she could and walked around the desk, putting it in her pocket. She waved goodbye to the girl, who waved back, involved in her phone conversation. She ducked into the elevator and took a deep breath.

Lower ten floors? So it's a gamble. She scanned the card and tried eight, it beeped. She read the access card, the warthogs name was Lily. Juliet was going to have to send some kind of thank you if she ever could. The elevator went down and when the door opened it exposed a long, steel corridor. She exited the glass elevator and looked left and right. To her right was a computer monitor, again it wanted a card. She scanned it and looked for some way to search.

After some browsing she saw a list of patients. Looking through it she found a bear named Ivark. That sounded about right, and not wanting to take too much time, she noted the location. A floor below her. Just her luck. There had to be stairs in case of fire, maybe she could find them.

She ran along the hall as quietly as she could. In most places the stairs were directly across from the elevator, and in this case the guess served her well. She found the door and entered the stairwell. She jumped off of the staircase and swung to the door below, she was sort of in a hurry.

She opened the door slightly and turned her ear to listen for anyone in the immediate area. Years of sneaking in and out of the hostile were serving her well today. She didn't hear anyone and went through.


	22. Chapter 22 - Muscles

Chapter 22 - Muscles

This floor was all glass and very sterile, in stark contrast to the floor above it. There was a large open space in the center that had a chair with restraints on it. This immediately sent Juliet into hurry mode. The edges of the room were lined with what could only be called cells with glass doors. She crouched silently and looked into one.

A sleeping lion was laying across a simple bed. The fur around his neck was burnt and matted. The cell itself had little in it. She looked for a way to open it. The only thing she found was a touch panel, she could not figure out how to open it. She grunted in frustration and moved on to each cell. She found two more lions, a tiger, a cheetah, and finally the cell number which contained the bear she was looking for.

He was obviously a black bear, but his fur was white. He was sitting upright, cross-legged, and determinedly at the wall. Almost as if he was trying to burn a hole through it. Juliet tapped gently with a claw and he turned to look at her. She smiled at him and he turned his head puzzled. She tried to think fast, how to convince him she was here to help him? She pulled out a ticket stub from the park and put it up to the glass.

The bear clapped his hands and stood up. She pointed at the touchpad and he shrugged. She sighed and put her head against the glass, her ears going back. She got this far and had no idea how to get him out.

Then she had an epiphany…if they had stairs for fire, maybe they had a button for opening the cells. She looked around the room for a master control. Her ears went up when she spotted a desk across the room with a large button on the wall with yellow caution stripes around it. She ran over near it when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Well, hello darlin'. What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She turned around slowly and growled, her ears going back. Kansas stood there in a suit, with an access card pinned to his lapel. It read Mr. Kade. She spat, "You son-of-a-stray. It was you all along. What are you playing at?"

He smiled a wicked grin, "Oh. It's nothing. Just money. See, prey make up so much of the city, and they spend all the money. Preds do good work, for cheap. You keep preds working, keep prey buying. Oh, and not to mention I have some, more personal motives."

She took a step toward him, "So why license synching, and what is with all the updates? You are liar! I am going to find out what is going on, and I am taking you down. I am not afraid of you Kansas!"

He took two steps toward her and laughed, "I never thought you were darlin. Gosh you have so much punch. Like moonshine. You remind me of her." He reached out toward her.

She swatted his hand away and said, "I synched up with someone. He got something much sweeter than you will ever get, Kansas. I will never be yours, so quit trying!"

He growled and said, "What? It's that punk bartender ain't it?"

She put her hand on her hip and said, "He rocks my world in ways you never could. You are half the pred he is. I love him Kansas, take a hike!" Her collar beeped, she was too angry to care. She just wanted to hurt this creep. She wanted him to feel pain, any pain.

He lunged and took her by the throat and pinned her the wall. His collar went off and she could feel the voltage travel through her body. It was much higher than anything she had ever felt. She barely held consciousness at the pain. She pulled at his paws as she dangled on the wall, the button just out of reach.

He snarled in her ear, "If I can have you, NO mammal ever will."

She felt dizzy and fuzzy. The mammals in the cells were beating and banging on the walls. The raucous was far away as her eyes began to tear up.

A flash of grey flew in front of her eyes as she fell to the floor. She gasped for air and looked around, Judy stood in front of her. Kansas was staring at the two of them in disbelief. Juliet could barely breathe. She wanted to hear what they were saying, but she was hanging by a thread. Kansas left and Juliet pointed to the button. Judy smashed it and Muscles picked Juliet up gingerly. She didn't remember much after that, other than white fur.

She woke on one of the beds in the clinic. Finnick was shining a light in her eyes. She squinted and waved him away. Her throat and chest hurt like an elephant sat on them.

The next mammal she saw was Leo. He kissed her on the head and gently pet her ear. She tried to sit up, and Leo helped her. She didn't try to talk, but looked around. Everyone was there. No one looked happy. Great.

Judy started, "Juliet, what the hell was that? Why would you go in there? How did you get in there? I barely got you guys back out by calling the EMT's and now Bogo is right up my tail to figure out what is going on and" Nick put his hand on her shoulder.

Nick said, "Hey, that was insane. Thanks."

Judy looked at him, dumbfounded. Everyone else nodded in agreement, except for Leo. He looked, well, pissed. She knew she was in some kind of trouble. If she could talk, she would apologize.

Nick turned to Judy and said, "You sure this was that Kansas guy?"

She tapped her foot repeatedly, and said, "Yes. He was choking her against the wall. I am not sure she would have made it if I hadn't kicked him in the head."

Nick nodded and walked out of the room. Judy watched him and threw her hands up in frustration. She looked at Juliet, "They want to press charges, I might be able to stop it by using the assault. That was really brave."

Leo added, "And stupid."

Oh yeah, she was in trouble. Finnick fixed her up with some painkillers. Muscles gave her a gentle hug and thanked her for getting him out of there. She gave him a painful nod and was thankful to head back with Leo. They were silent for the whole ride, except for Leo reassuring her that Richard collected her bike and returned it.

Leo helped her onto his bed and settled her in. He sat on the end of the bed and finally said, "What were you thinking?"

She just looked at him. Mostly because she couldn't talk from the pain of nearly being choked into unconsciousness. She sighed and tried to look apologetic. He rubbed the back of his head and asked, "It's because that update scared you, didn't it?"

She thought about it for a minute and shook her head yes. That is what set her off, there was more to it, but it would do for now. Juliet curled up and looked at the wall. She wished she could tell them everything she had learned, like that would somehow make it seem less stupid. Maybe if they knew they would be less angry with her.

Leo crawled up next to her on the bed and put his paws behind his head, looking through the skylight. He sighed and closed his eyes, "Hey, I am not angry. I just wish you wouldn't run off and do something stupid every time that you get upset."

She rolled over slowly and gave him a look that was supposed to mean that she doesn't do that. He responded, "Last time you broke into Nick's office."

She flattened, he was right. She did tend to do something stupid when she got upset. She gingerly nuzzled him as an apology. It made her wince and he put his arm around her. He said softly, "I just got you, I don't want to lose you Juliet."

She smiled.

He added, "I kind of like the quiet though, this is nice."

She poked him in the ribs, hard. He jumped and laughed and they settled in to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23 - Call to the post

h1Chapter 23 – Call to the post/h1  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" Leo left for work early and left Juliet sleeping in the bed alone. She woke to dancing light across the wall of Leo's room. A poster of a yin yang looked distorted in the heated shimmer. She closed her eyes and winced at the pain in her throat. She felt so stupid at having been hurt so badly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She wished more that she could tell everyone everything. She resolved to find some way to do that and began to search through Leo's room for something to write on. She found an old notebook with doodles of swords and shuriken. She flipped until she found an empty page and looked around for a pen. As she was rummaging through a drawer she felt her pupils dilate. The light in the room had lessened suddenly. She was crouched near Leo's desk. Slowly, she turned her head to look at where the light had been playing on the wall./p  
p class="MsoNormal" There was a very distinct outline of a mammal shadowed in the circular light. She tried not to move. Her pulse quickened and she looked up as calmly as she could./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Before she was able to get a look, glass exploded into the room. Juliet bolted for the door. Adrenaline killed the pain in her throat and powered the muscles in her body. She ran through the door and slammed it shut. Her collar beeped, she knew it was going to go off if she didn't get out of there. She couldn't fight in the state she was in. Spotting her helmet and keys, she snagged them and took off for the front door. She glimpsed her phone across the room and cursed it for being there./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She heard the bedroom door slam open just as she reached the front. She yanked the front door open and raced outside. She went straight for her bike, knocking up the kickstand as she pulled her helmet on. She straddled it and roared it to life, spinning in a circle as quickly as she could. She wasn't sure whoever it was would chase her outside, but she wasn't taking a chance. She peeled out of the drive, kicking sand and dirt everywhere. The noise would attract attention, good. She looked in her rearview, but she couldn't see anything./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She worked to calm herself as she sped through town to the Skunk. She locked up her bike without taking her helmet off. She was still in a sleepshirt and pajamas. She burst into the bar and slammed her helmet onto a barstool. She jumped over the bar, startling Leo. He kept asking her what was going on, but realized she couldn't answer. She had too much adrenaline coursing through her to care anyway. After frisking him for his phone, she slumped down behind the bar near him; allowing herself to finally be scared in his proximity./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She looked for Judy's number, but he didn't have it. She punched it in and texted her. "This is Juliet on Leo's phone. Can you have someone go to my place on Dry River Rd. and make sure the mammal that busted through my skylight trying to hurt me is gone, please?" Pretty succinct, she thought./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She handed the phone to Leo to read the message and looked at her with a, "What!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" She shook her head yes and pulled her knees up, resting her head on them. Her ears went back and she tried to breathe. The pain was starting to catch up with her now, and it was bad. She was very happy that Leo was there to help her out./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Jaz came busting out to find out what was going on, but was pretty cool with things after finding out someone broke into their place. Juliet enjoyed some warm milk, and after an "all clear" message from Judy, she went to leave. Leo stopped her and said, "I would feel better if you went to Nick's until I got off work. You should let him know anyway."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" She nodded lightly in agreement, that is all she could manage. Her pain meds were at the house, and maybe Finnick could help her out with some. She put her helmet on and headed for the park./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Nick wasn't in his office. Muscles was doing some work nearby and she went over to him. He didn't talk much, but she made a funny imitation of Nick and he pointed her in the right direction. As she approached, she found Abigail and Finnick arguing over a bucket of paint. Nick had his head in his hands and when he saw her he said, "Yes. Juliet…you can help."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Frustrated that she couldn't object she walked over and put her paw on her hip. Abigail started immediately, "These bozos think that you only need like two square feet of space for a dressing room. C'mon, back me up here Juliet."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" She looked puzzled. Nick smiled and said, "Oh. I forgot, you don't know. I went to the Tomcat Lounge and had a chat with some of the lovely mammals that work there. Most of them don't like the working conditions, go figure. So I offered to let them have their own venue here at the park. The only stipulation is that they had to walk off the job immediately." He grinned./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Juliet smiled and put a paw up, he met her for a high paw. She pointed at Abigail and shook her head yes to mean that she agreed with her. Finnick and Nick looked at each other and sighed. They lost this one. Juliet had her spirits lifted hearing that Nick had landed a blow to Kansas' business. She spent the rest of the day helping them to refurbish an old building for the new show. By the end of it, Finnick had made Abigail so angry she dumped a bucket of blue paint on him. Juliet felt for the first time in a long time that she actually had friends./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Well into the evening, with the morning's events almost forgotten, they retired to Nick's office. She found some paper and pen and began writing down everything she learned at SafariCorp. Nick was reading through it when Judy barged in, nearly frantic. "Juliet are you okay? Whoever it was got away." Juliet gave her a weak thumbs-up./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Nick asked, "Did something happen?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "She didn't tell you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Juliet pointed to her throat and shook her head as gently and sarcastically as she could that no, she didn't./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Judy said, "Oh. Well, a mammal broke the skylight in Leo and Nicks apartment and ran after Juliet this morning. That is why she was here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "And I thought she just wanted the pleasure of our company" Nick chortled./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Leo arrived shortly after and wouldn't leave Juliet's side. Nick was holding the papers that Juliet had written and looked pensive. He got out his phone and made a few texts. Judy was going on about how they had dozens of calls about preds shorting out from the new update. Leo told everyone the bar had been practically empty. Things were getting desperate./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Juliet just watched Nick, he was still fiddling with his phone. She cursed not being able to talk. She flexed her neck experimentally, and winced. She rested her head on Leo's shoulder and resigned to wait for now. Then she frisked Leo for his phone. He just let her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She found Nicks number in the phone and texted him, "What are you doing?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" His phone beeped, his eyes flicked up to her and she looked over at him. She could see him slide the message open and respond./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Leo's phone vibrated, "Not talking getting to you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "Killing me. You didn't answer my question. You are up to something, fox."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "I am always up to something. Shifty fox. Curious cat."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "Want me to tell the bunny? Call me that again. We need to rally the troops, not sit here talking."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" "Hey, not a bad idea. Glad I thought of it. I am not afraid of the bunny." He grinned at her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" She tapped Judy on the shoulder, he began waving his arms frantically behind Judy in a "no" motion. Juliet laughed silently, she loved messing with Nick. He was too easy a target. She turned to see Leo giving her a face, he took his phone and read the texts. She didn't stop him, it was his phone after all./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Leo looked at Nick and cleared his throat, "So what IS the plan, Nick? You just gonna secretly text my girlfriend all night? Or are you two going to share?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Judy whipped around and looked at Nick, who cowered slightly and pleaded innocence. "I don't have a plan, really. Just checking my options. Getting ahold of some old contacts."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Leo finished, "Rallying the troops? Like Juliet texted you to do?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Nick narrowed his eyes, "Everyone pick on the fox."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" Judy turned back to Juliet, "That is a great idea you guys! We should get everyone we know in on this. Good idea slick!" She punched Nick on the arm. He smiled and rubbed the spot playfully. Juliet raised an eyebrow at his response. She continued, "Nick and I will go and rally everyone we can find tomorrow. You guys can get a plan together. Whoever it is, is obviously after Nick and Juliet. Probably because they pose the biggest threats. If Juliet stays here with Leo and Nick is with me then there shouldn't be any worry. Let's go." She bounced in the air./p  
p class="MsoNormal" Nick cleared his throat, "Er, Carrots, you did say tomorrow."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" She settled down and laughed, "I did. So tomorrow we start. Then we make a plan. We are going to take down SafariCorp and the collars. And that Kansas /p 


	24. Chapter 24 - Koslov

Chapter 24 – Koslov

Leo and Juliet made a point to cover the broken skylight before going to bed. The sandstorms in Sahara Square were usually scheduled, but they were still uneasy about a hole in the ceiling. The only thing they really had was the canvas hammock of Juliet's, so she made the sacrifice. She hadn't slept in it since she got it anyway.

They barely woke before getting a text from Nick. Juliet was making coffee and trying to make some squeaking noises, she was barely able to get out good morning to Leo. Which was a start. They looked at their phones and discovered the same text. It said, "Wilde Times is a no-fly zone." Juliet had a feeling that it was a bad thing.

Before she could express herself to Leo, the heard loud hip hop music in the drive way. Leo shook his head and said, "Finnick." He went to open the door, and Juliet put on coffee, and then pants.

When she walked out of Leo's room, Nick, Finnick, and Leo were all standing in a circle in the kitchen with coffee in their paws. She maneuvered around them for her own cup, Leo told her, "The ZPD raided the park."

She about dropped her coffee mug. She growled, "What?"

Nick responded, "You sound how I feel. Carrots barely warned me before they showed up. I got most of our group out, but I can't say that everyone got out without cuffs."

Finnick's ears went back, "They got Abigail. Apparently she had a warrant for something and they took her in for collar tampering. There is no way this was just a regular hit either. The came in full gear. "

Nick put his hands up dramatically, "They brought four rhinos and the entire Zootopia S.W.A.T! What did they think I had in there?"

Juliet croaked out, "A bunch of un-collared predators".

Nick swished his coffee and said, "touché."

Leo rubbed the back of his head and his ears went back, "So what do we do? This is obviously set up by SafariCorp. I mean, there is no other way that they come in that heavy without some politics behind it."

Nick set his coffee down and said, "I have a buddy coming. We need information. I keep running plans over and over and there are too many holes. It looks like Swiss cheese. I just can't think about asking anybody to do anything without knowing what they are going into."

Juliet sipped her coffee, it coated her throat, and she asked, "What DO we know?"

Finnick shook his ears, "Not much. Just what you brought, and the location of the main tower. Judy tried getting blueprints, but she thinks someone is watching her. She is putting herself at a lot of risk doing anything right now."

Nicks collar beeped. Everyone looked at him and he just sipped his coffee. Juliet was entirely puzzled. Either his collar was broken or he was really good at hiding how he really felt. He just sipped his coffee and motioned for everyone to continue talking. Juliet caught the trigger for the warning. Finnick had mentioned Judy putting herself at risk. Juliet was grasping at something about Nick and Judy, but it was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Nick looked up and said quickly, "Ha, and there he is."

Leo answered the door while Juliet stood awkwardly in the kitchen with the two foxes. He came back in with a raccoon in tow. The raccoon had a piercing in his right ear and a patch of white fur on each of his cheeks had been dyed blue. He had a jovial expression and walked with his paws in his pockets.

The raccoon walked straight over to Nick and gave him a fist bump. Nick put an arm out and said, "This is Lazer. An old buddy of mine."

Every one waved. Lazer looked around the room and bounced on his heels. "So, what's with the sausage-fest?"

Juliet choked on her coffee. Leo cleared his throat and pointed to Juliet saying, "Girlfriend?"

Lazer shook his head and replied, "Well, if that's the case, she belongs to you, and that makes her an honorary Bro."

Juliet laughed. It hurt to laugh, but she laughed. She laughed so hard that everyone else started laughing and after a good chuckle, they all felt a little better. Lazer patted Nick on the back and asked, "So what is it Nick, you need me to get your favorite shirt back again?"

Nick leaned against the counter, "No. I was thinking more along the lines of a revolution. Maybe war. Something like that."

Lazer bounced back and pulled his other hand out of his pocket, "Whoa. Seriously, what did I miss?"

Finnick answered, "Gonna take down SafariCorp. We just don't know anything about them."

Nick continued, "What little we do know, Juliet there managed to get on a smash and grab getting muscles out of a tight spot. She got choked out in the process, almost didn't make it out. Carrots saved her tail."

Juliet shot him a look. Nick replied with, "She did!"

Lazer shook his head, "Looks like it. So what do you need from me? Nick. I am a little bit lost here."

Nick sighed and set his coffee down. "We are taking down collars for good."

Lazer laughed and joked, "What? The park too small fish for you anymore?"

Everyone avoided looking at Nick, the raccoon's jovial demeanor changed and he said, "Duude, something happen to the times?"

Nick said, "The ZPD took it down this morning, another in a series of unfortunate events."

"So this is war then? You are seriously doing this? Count me IN! I am so down! Let's take down the man. I want out of this thing!" He rubbed his paws together in excitement.

Nick laughed, "Alright. I think I have a plan. We need a distraction, that is what I need from you Lazer. That, and information about the SafariCorp building. As much as you can get."

Juliet added, "We need some serious artillery too. How exactly are we taking down a thirty-foot steel tower?"

Leo tapped a claw and Finnick looked at Nick. Juliet had a sudden stroke of genius, "I might know, actually. I think I solved my own problem. Time to go see papa bear."

Juliet darted across the room after her helmet. Leo went after her, "You are not going alone, Juliet. I know Kansas probably isn't there, but I am not taking that chance." Finnick swirled his keys and said, "Load up. Road trip."

Lazer decided to ride with Nick and Finnick to Tundratown. Mostly because the heating in his car didn't work. Leo rode in the van too, to which he met with multiple jokes from the rest of the guys. Juliet tied her scarf across her face to fight to biting cold.

As she pulled up to the familiar market, she noticed it was empty. It wasn't the usual bustling center that she had become accustomed to. It put her on edge. That edge melted when she heard the thunderous sound of Koslov from the upper deck.

"AHA! JULIET! You are in one piece; I am glad you came to see me! Come up, please. I have warm offerings." He beckoned the whole group to meet him in the upstairs office. Nick grabbed Juliet's arm and whispered, "Do you know who that is?"

"Koslov. I have worked for him for years."

"I mean…do you KNOW who he IS?"

She looked at him, puzzled. He continued, "He is just the biggest crime boss in Tundratown next to Mr. Big. I am pretty sure they went to crime school together."

She knew he wasn't entirely legit, but she had no idea that Koslov had that much of a street rep. She shook it off and said, "Aww, it's Koslov. He is a softie. C'mon." Nicks mouth fell open as he watched Leo and Juliet pull themselves up quickly and easily to the top level. The rest followed hesitantly behind.

Koslov offered them all a warm seafood soup that soothed Juliet's throat. She ate it eagerly while she and Leo enjoyed watching the other three act skittish in the alleged mob boss's office. When she finished her bowl, it was Koslov that started.

"My dear, you may be happy to know that I am firing Kansas. He is not trustworthy and has treated one of my favorite employees with terrible violence. I cannot tolerate such behavior in my business. But I knew that you would not be liking it if I was causing him pain. But I am believing you deserve recompense, this is for you. It is everything I am finding on Kansas. You would be calling it dirt."

He handed her a large, manila envelope. It was stuffed full of documents. She wanted to open it, but held back the urge. She said thank you and hugged the envelope. She asked, "I was hoping, actually you could help me with something else."

He smiled a big bear grin, "Juliet, you have worked for me honestly for many years. Your only complaint is that I do not do right paperwork. You never ask for anything, of course. Anything for my favorite kitty."

She cleared her throat, the guys all looked flabbergasted, "I have this, uh, project I am working on and I need something that would cause a lot of damage to a really big object."

He laughed a big, belly laugh. Juliet gave a start, but the guys all jumped back, a few even sounding a collar beep. They were scared of him. He was pretty big and scary. When he finished he said, "Juliet, I know about your revolution. Almost all of the predators in Zootopia know. I will help in any way I can. These collars have been a plague on us for too long. I have never met a prey that thinks it is helpful to zap a mammal. Is no good. I think I have something to help you. Wait here."

Koslov left the room. Nick said, "Great! The mob bosses know? So everyone knows? Revolution? Who said revolution? I didn't say revolution? Did you say revolution?" He was in a bit of a panic. Leo patted him on the back and said, "Look at it this way Nick, we have backup. Lots of it. I am pretty sure you called it a revolution over coffee."

Lazer was scratching his chin, and seemed to want to say something. He opened his mouth, but Koslov came in and slammed down a huge wooden crate. It shattered slightly. He worked at the edges with his claws, and with everyone's help, they managed to open it. It was full of dynamite frozen in ice.

"Is big boom. Will take down any big thing you need. I have fuse wire at my house. I think that my brother can set you up nice."

Finnick yelled, "Dynamite? Are you kidding me? Now we have a fight!"

Koslov pointed at Finnick and said, "The little fox sounds like a big bear. You are funny little one, I like you."

Finnick chuckled, "Not so bad yourself, big guy."

Koslov put his paws on his belly and laughed, "Big guy, I like".

Nick asked, "So…How do we get it in the van?"

Koslov replied, "I will have my brother bring to the place. No worry. He is professional. Just let me know time and place."

Finnick said, "Can I do that? C'mon lemme blow it up!" He actually bounced a little, it would have been cute if he didn't sound like a much bigger mammal.

Nick shrugged and said sure. Juliet hugged Koslov goodbye and thanked him. She came up as far as his knee in the hug, but it made him smile the same. He told her that if she needed work to ask him anytime. They departed the office into the cold snow of Tundratown.

Nick looked at his phone and said, "We need to go pick up Carrots. Something happened. She is upset."

Finnick asked, "Where?"

"The ZPD". Nick put his phone away and ducked into the van.


	25. Chapter 25 - Plan

Chapter 25 - Plan

They raced to the ZPD to see a very dejected-looking Judy sitting on the curb. Juliet noticed immediately that her uniform breast was vacant. She kicked the stand on her bike and ran to give Judy a hug. Judy was shocked at first, but just hugged her back. Juliet didn't even care what happened, she knew how much it meant to the bunny to be an officer, and if her badge was missing, that meant she wasn't anymore.

The boys got out of the van to see the two exchanging embraces and kept distance. Judy wiped away a tear and stood up. Nick walked over and asked, "What happened, Carrots?"

She got an angry look and shouted, "They wanted me to put a collar on a bear that was way under-age, just because she got into a fight at school! She was being bullied! I gave them my badge and told them that I couldn't be an officer if that was what it meant. I became a cop to serve and protect. That means everyone, even predators." She looked up at Nick with misty eyes. Even though she was trying to be strong, everyone could tell it hurt her to do what she did.

Nick and Judy just looked at each other for a moment before Nick sharply inhaled and said, "Well, at least now you can be a part of Nick's army full-time". He smiled at her, she elbowed him in the ribs and climbed into the van. They decided to head back to Juliet and Leo's, for lack of anywhere else to go with enough space for them all.

The whole ride through Zootopia Juliet could think of nothing but the envelope that Koslov had given her. Maybe there was something in there they could use to bring down SafariCorp. If they could just create that momentary lapse, just a small amount of time. It was all they needed to make everyone see that predators were not the monsters that they were painted to be. They had the heart, they had the mammals. It was time.

As soon as she got in the door, she sat at the table and ripped open the envelope. Leo went about making Judy comfortable and making something to eat…which didn't turn out because he didn't have anything for an herbivore. Juliet scanned the first page of the envelope, it was Kansas birth certificate. Juliet laughed explosively, it sounded more like a croak.

Everyone looked at her, she held the envelope up and said, "Kansas birth name is Marston." It earned several minutes of shooting the breeze from the group as she explored more of the papers. He was not born in Zootopia, but moved there with his wife.

"The son of a stray is married." Juliet said. Judy steamed about it, going on and on about how it gave predators a bad name. Juliet enjoyed the open mocking of Kansas, until she found a hospital record.

It was for Kansas wife. Juliet said, "Hold on, guys. His wife's name is Vermillion. She is in a coma. She was hospitalized for collar malfunctions, and lost a pregnancy."

Everyone went dead silent. They bowed their heads, and a quiet understanding struck them all. He was as much a victim as the rest of them. Juliet continued, "She was moved from Zootopia general around the same time that I stole his bounty. I wonder if it has anything to do with him being around me."

Nick said, "Do you think that SafariCorp has something to do with him lurking round?"

She shook her head, "It makes sense. When he attacked me, he said I reminded him of her. I wonder if they have her or their treating her. They help pay for his club, it makes sense."

Leo asked, "But why would he be watching you. Nick had me keeping an eye on you because you were after him, if Kansas is working for SafariCorp…then who is in charge?"

No one spoke up. The envelope had given them more questions than answers. She sifted through the pages and found a sheet with signature. It was oddly familiar, it sparked a bad feeling in the pit of Juliet's stomach. Why was Kansas following her? The hostile had been ransacked, and the mammal that came through the skylight. Someone had been after her, specifically. Something was lingering in the shadows all the time. Why hadn't she seen it until now?

It didn't matter, she put it all in the envelope. They were going to stop it and whoever it was that was after her would stop. She was finding it harder to hate Kansas now. She tried to imaging losing kits, and then a wife. No wonder he was such a jerk. Probably the only way he wasn't crispy fried by his collar.

She looked at the raccoon and said, "At Koslov's, you were going to say something and you didn't, what was it?"

He said, "Oh, I had an idea for a distraction. I just wasn't sure it was enough to cover an explosion. I have been working it over in my head a bit now and I think it could work. I need to make a few calls. I was thinking, if we get enough mammals together, preds or prey, and have a massive flash mob party right in front of SafariCorp, that should distract them pretty good."

Nick got excited, "Oh, I like it. I know a guy with a party bus. He can roll it in. We just get the word out about a time and place and get the party going. We don't even have to be there. With that many mammals there, the ZPD will be so busy with crowd control that they won't be able to handle a break in and an explosion at the same time."

Finnick piped up, "Hey, by the time the bear has that thing wired up and lit, it will be all elbows and tail out of there. They will show up and see nothing."

Leo said, "So then there is getting into SafariCorp to shut it down."

Lazer swished his tail, "I don't think I can get into the system externally, but I have a great virus program you can take with you. If you can get it plugged into a server room, their computers will go down harder than Nick with a pickup line."

Finnick roared with laughter, Judy giggled and punched Nick on the arm.

Juliet said, "So all that is left is getting in, right?"

Nick replied, "Yeah. I think that Lazer and I will have to tag-team this one. We are blind in their though. Do you only have the one drive?"

Lazer smiled, "Oh, I can make copies, so divide and Conquer?"

Nick, "oh yeah. I think that You, me and Carrots, and Leo and Juliet. Between the two we can find a server room and get out. Maybe even make the party!"

Juliet stood up, "So we actually have a plan, finally."

Judy added, "What about after? I mean what do you tell everyone?"

Nick shrugged, "Play nice?"

Judy replied, "Har Har."

They all got on their respective phones and made calls. They planned everything for the next day, figuring a good night's sleep wasn't a bad idea. When the issue of sleep came up, Leo offered for everyone to just camp out there for the night.

Juliet and Judy called dibs on the bed. Nick and Lazer made several lewd jokes throughout the night. They finally got sick of it and waited until they weren't looking and dumped bowls of ice water on the raccoon and fox. Leo laughed so hard he fell over. Before they knew it, they had all settled into a spot and there was a discord of snores and body noises throughout the apartment.

Judy settled onto the bed and stared at the gently flapping canvas over the skylight. She had the same look that Leo would get when he wanted to have a serious conversation. Juliet finally asked, "So what is it?"

"How did you and Leo finally figure out that you liked each other?"

Juliet turned her head a little and thought about it, she finally answered, "I finally realized when he said certain things he was trying to tell me without actually saying it. He had been in love with me for a long time before I ever felt anything. Why?"

"Oh. No reason."

"Bullscat. You're thinking about somebody. I think I know who." She pushed the bunny playfully.

"Well, it's not what you call conventional in any way. My parents would probably faint, or disown me, or something."

"Right, cuz you color in the lines all the time"

"You know. You're right. I have never let someone tell me what I can or can't do. After all of this is over, I am going to say something."

Juliet rolled over and said, "Trust me, waiting is not worth it. It's amazing when you find love. It changes your whole world."

Judy rolled over as well, "Good night Juliet, and thank you for listening to me. I don't have many friends."

"Neither did I Judy, Neither did I."


	26. Chapter 26 - Here We Go

Chapter 26 – Here we go.

They were all silent as they ate breakfast. It has an apprehensive nervousness; everyone was thinking about what was ahead. Nick went out and got Judy something from a donut shop nearby. She thanked him and Juliet shot her a look. Judy ignored it and ate her breakfast silently, but still sitting next to Nick anyway.

Leo excused himself and went into his room. Juliet finished her food and coffee and went to check on him. She opened the door slowly to find him doing his Tai Chi in the bedroom. She walked over to him and embraced him, putting her chin on his shoulder, she whispered into his ear "nervous?"

He responded quietly, "Absolutely. I have no idea what is going to happen tonight. I want to be on my game."

She moved around and stood next to him. She leveled her breathing and tried to copy his stance. He looked at her sideways and she said, "Show me how this works." Leo spent the better part of an hour showing her the basic stances of Tai Chi. Before she realized it, they were both much calmer and she felt ready for whatever was coming.

She gave him a delicate peck on the check and said, "It's going to be okay. We are changing the world, Leo. I couldn't do this without you. I love you."

His eyes opened wide and he grabbed her in a tight hug, "I have been waiting for you to say that." He inhaled her scent deeply and said, "Let's do this, together." Juliet smiled and they went back out into the front room.

They all went over the plan together. In the middle of working out the kinks of finding flash drives to copy Lazer's computer virus, every collar in the room started to beep. Finnick swore loudly and Juliet froze, her tail swishing in irritation. Judy looked puzzled and frightened.

Nick was frozen as well, and put his paw out slowly to Judy and said, "It is the collar update, it must be uploading to this area. It shouldn't take long, but it couldn't be worse timing. We can't know how it is going to affect each one of us."

If Juliet didn't know better, Nick actually looked scared. It dawned on her that he probably would go and hide at Wilde Times when there was an update, but he didn't have that option this time. Juliet shot a look to Judy, and who caught her gaze. Juliet tilted her head ever so slightly toward Nick. Judy wasn't catching on. Leo had caught the entire exchange and grabbed Juliet in an embrace, which definitely made her feel better.

Realization dawned on Judy's face and she tapped her paw on her leg nervously. The gentle beeping continued, but Nick still hadn't moved, his paw still midair in Judy's direction. She put her paw out to meet his and then grabbed him in a tentative embrace. She said, "I am so sorry, Nick. I wish there was something I could do." She held him there. It made Juliet smile.

Nick was so caught off guard, everyone could tell, but he still didn't dare move much. He inched in to meet her in the hug and said, "Heh, you bunnies, so emotional."

They all stayed like that for about ten minutes until the beeping stopped. Lazer was the first to move around a little and test the waters. When he seemed okay, everyone else let out a gentle breath. It served to renew their resolve to finish what they had started. Those few minutes in absolute terror of a beeping collar was such a heartbreaking experience that they all felt a fire to never have it happen again.

Even Nick had his jaw set to go. Judy whispered a thank you to Juliet who shrugged it off. Leo waited until everyone had gone outside to pack Finnick's van to pull her aside and ask her, "So what was that?"

"A collar update." She answered coyly.

He rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. Are you trying to set Nick and Judy up?"

"Hey, Judy expressed that she was having a difficulty with figuring out if someone liked her. I was just trying to help."

"Right, so you are the mammal she asked?"

"Why? Do you think I am not qualified to recognize obliviousness?"

Leo laughed and kissed her behind the ear, then promptly gave her a gentle shove out the door. He mumbled something that sounded like, "trouble".

Nick's 'friend', he sure seems to have no end of friends, showed up with a semi-trailer full of equipment that had to be wired into a power source. Between the five of them they were able to get it all rigged up with minimal notice by local authorities. There was a small crowd of early arrivals that were helping to avert attention by saying that they were tying down some loose cargo.

It was mid-afternoon when they got everything set up and ready, and there were nearly four dozen mammals gathered. There was no way to hide it much longer. Lazer was climbing up and down the rigging making sure everything was set. Nick was bouncing on his heels nervously and Judy kept peeking out of the trailer, her nose twitching.

Finally, Lazer jumped down and looked at his phone. "Might as well get this party started!" They all hopped out of the trailer and Lazer hit a button that detached the front side, revealing a large speaker and DJ booth. The crown that had gathered started to cheer. The friend of Nick's, a kudu, gave Nick a fist bump and they all left him to it.

All five of them met at Finnick's van and went over the plan, again. Finnick saluted everyone and got into the van. He flipped on his sunglasses and peeled out to meet Koslov's brother at the signal tower. They watched him drive off.

Juliet rasped, "Our turn."

They each crept along the side of the SafariCorp building. They could hear the music thumping just on the other side. There were no sirens, yet. There would be soon. The hope was that all of the employees would be looking out of the window on the other side of the building and wouldn't see them breaking in on this half.

The dull light of the fading sun did nothing to light the alleyway. The immense skyscraper took an entire block, and they searched the length of it until they found a window. Nick helped hold Lazer up as he used a credit card to pop the glass out and hand it down to Leo. He looked around the frame for something, and didn't find it. Which was a good thing, because he went through the window to the other side and whispered, "Clear!".

Nick put his claws together and helped Judy up and she helped pull him through the window. Juliet and Leo were able to jump up and through on their own. Each of them padded down on the other side in a crouch, the hall was dark. Juliet's pupils dilated and she could see the edges of doors and

Lazer whispered, "Okay, remember, if you feel cold, you are close to a server. They have to stay cool. Those suckers over heat. You just have to plug it in and run. If you succeed, text the other team and get out. Clear?"

Leo replied, "For the tenth time, Yes."

"Okay, then I am gonna go keep an eye on the party and be command central. Peace." He jumped into the window and out. They had decided they needed someone to be out of harm's way in case anything went haywire anywhere and someone needed help. Juliet put the idea from her head, nothing was going to go wrong.

Nick started to move his hands and his ears in strange ways, Juliet thought his collar was shocking him until she realized he was trying to use some kind of bizarre sing language. She blinked a few times, and said, "I have no clue what that was supposed to mean."

Leo sighed and put a claw on either side of his nose, "It means we go to the top twenty floors and search and they will take the bottom twenty and we will meet back there in an hour."

Juliet and Judy both looked at Leo in absolute horror, Juliet asked, "How in everything that is furry did you understand any of that?"

"Work at the times for a few months, you pick up a little of that gobbledygook"

Nick looked offended, "It is a legitimate secret sign language, and is very effective, now let's go."


	27. Chapter 27 – Best Laid Plans

Chapter 27 – Best laid plans

Saying they were going to the top floors was one thing. Actually getting there was another thing entirely. Leo was staying close and behind her, obviously taking to her experience within the building. She took a deep breath and forged on. She had no idea what she was doing.

The one thing she knew is that they had to get a key card. She was sure they would have done away with the employee, or at least the access for the card she had stolen last time. She hadn't even bothered to bring it. Unfortunately, that meant working their way toward employees, or at least as close as they dared.

Juliet started testing doors. Perhaps they could just find a stray card in a desk somewhere. They were all locked. She didn't know why she expected any less from this place. It was really strange that the lights were out too. What kind of office operated without safety lights? She was starting to get an odd vibe. Something wasn't right.

"What is it, Juliet? Your tail is twitching." Leo whispered. He sounded like he was shouting in contrast to the silence of the hall. She responded as quietly as she could, "I just have a bad feeling. Something is weird. Let's just keep moving."

She still tried doors, hoping one of them would work, none did. Not until they were almost to the glass windows of the front façade. The handle gave a click. She looked at Leo, he nodded, and they went into the room.

They were met with a bevy of monitors. They were all on and displaying images of various places around the building. Juliet couldn't help but think there should be security guards here. Her curiosity got the better of her and she began to look at the images on the screens.

Most of the monitors showed empty halls or conference rooms. She scanned each one until she found a cluster that was displaying the laboratory levels. One image in particular caught her attention. There were predators laying in beds hooked up to life monitoring equipment. They all seemed to be sleeping. She leaned in closer and could see there were several canines, but what had caught her attention was a caracal.

It wasn't Kansas, the form was much different. It had to be his wife. Juliet realized that all the mammals in the room must be in similar condition then. All of them were comatose because of a collar malfunction. She looked at each bed in turn, trying to remember them so they wouldn't be forgotten.

Then she saw a bed on the end.

She motioned for Leo to come over, she tapped on the screen with her claw, pointing at the bed that confused her. Leo's eyes went wide and said, "No way. That isn't possible. Is that your mom?" Juliet could feel her eyes getting misty.

Guilt gripped her chest. She had been so afraid of her father that she never went back after what happened. She didn't even dare speak to her mother, or check on her. So afraid that her father would find her and hurt her. There was no way to be sure from the small screen. She had to find the room and find out for sure if it was her.

Juliet set her jaw and began to turn to leave when a loud voice shouted, "Hit 'em".

She and Leo's collars both began to electrocute them with full force, and without stopping. Juliet grasped at her collar, unable to breath. She fell to the ground in pain, choking and spasming from the constant barrage to her body. Shouldn't it stop? Didn't it usually stop?

Leo was laying on the floor as well, he looked at her with pain in his eyes. He was trying to reach for her. She couldn't move. She felt the familiar tingle of unconsciousness take her into darkness.

And the pain stopped.

When she woke Juliet was tied to an office chair. Her entire body was painful; every movement took conscious effort. What little she could see was a conference room of some kind. There was a large wooden table with the SafariCorp world-within-a-collar logo on it. A dozen or so office chairs of various sizes surrounded the table in an orderly fashion. All but one.

One chair near her was facing away, someone was sitting in it. She opened her eyes wider to see a tail lazily swishing from side to side. She knew the pattern. She looked to see a paw resting on the table, the fur was familiar there too. Fear gripped her chest and adrenaline woke her and drove the pain from her limbs. She started looking for a way to escape. They had to be on the top floor, judging by the view. The door was on the opposite end of the room, and they were between her and it. She was trapped.

Her collar gave away her fear and gave an all too familiar tonal beep. The tail ceased swishing. Juliet felt like she could vomit, she just wanted to run.

"You're awake, Jules. I was beginning to wonder if you had finally shorted out like your mother."


	28. Chapter 28 - Villain

Chapter 28 - Villain

Juliet focused on her breathing, and her restraints. They were too tight; she was completely stuck. Her father. He was going to hurt her again. Her mind flew in a million directions and her pupils dilated. She didn't want her collar to shock her either. It seemed hopeless, and what had he done with Leo?

The chair turned around and Juliet saw him. He was dressed smartly in a business suit bearing the SafariCorp Logo. He stood up and walked slowly to the window, looking down at what she assumed was the party. "Quite a gathering your friends have creating in the front yard. Made a mess of our power. The police have finally arrived to help take care of it. If they cannot handle it, I have my technicians isolating that group of collars. A quick jolt should end the festivities; don't you think?"

"Is that what the update was for? So you could control individual collars and set them off? Hurting me wasn't enough?" She growled at him.

He chuckled throatily, "Jules, our lives are pain. We are predators. Our very existence is unwanted in this world. The only way we are accepted is if we suffer. I did you a favor, I taught you your first lesson in suffering. To answer your question, yes, it was necessary to isolate collars to control trouble individuals. We discovered that predators have been becoming more and more able to surpass the chemical markers the collars use."

"But you are a predator! How could you do that to your own? How could you help to create pain and suffering around you? What about mom? Did you even try to help her?"

"Did you? Once you left she looked for you relentlessly. You didn't want to be found, afraid of me I suspect. She fell deeper and deeper into a despair she couldn't hid from her collar, and eventually she couldn't take it anymore. With nothing better to do, I climbed the corporate ladder. I was able to secure a safe place for her to rest."

Juliet felt the tears rise, her mother had looked for her. The collars had destroyed her mother too. It all needed to end, but it was her father between her and destroying them forever. "So what are you going to do with me? Just keep shocking me until I end up in a coma like mom?"

"I really hope it doesn't come to that. I was hoping that your friend Leo would help you to choose a regular path. Just work and stay under the radar. I even sent that idiot Kansas to make your bounty hunting exploits difficult to push you in the right direction. Nothing works with you. You are determined to fight the truth. Now you have decided to join this rebellion."

"They are going to stop you. Even if I can't."

"Jules. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps predators need the control? Could you imagine what we could do without control? "

"I have seen it. It is wonderful, paradise." Using Leo's words made her feel cold. She didn't know if she would ever see him again.

Her father's eyes glittered with the lights of the city, but there was no life in them. She knew that. There could be no life in a monster that helped harm his family. Wasn't she just as guilty? She had just run away, maybe she could have saved her mother. The coldness started to feel like a sinking darkness. Her only spark was the small hope that maybe Nick and Judy found their way.

He spoke slowly, then with more volume, his paw resting on his chin, "You just zip around Zootopia helping mob bosses and criminals while you tell everyone you want to change the world. Oh, and you arrest the occasional bad guy to feel better. I thought I had raised you better than that. Predators stay low, stay out of the way. They don't hate us that way."

Juliet came out of the darkness a moment, "Raised me? What? In-between work and hating yourself? No, wait…that was the putting me in the E.R. for wanting a future for myself."

"That sarcastic bite. I wish we could detect that with the collars, but it doesn't have a chemical marker we can pick up…yet. I digress."

He looked away from the window and his cold, amber eyes settled on her. Her heart beat with ferocity and she felt like a tightened coil. Were she not tied down, she would be crouching and hissing. He took a few steps toward her and leaned slightly forward. "There is nothing they can do. Listen to me, because this is the truth. Predators are monsters that deserve to suffer, Juliet. You _deserve_ to suffer. The sooner you learn that, the better. Your friends are going to fail. Whatever little plans you have, are going to fail."

As if on cue, in the distance a loud cracking noise sounded and a flash followed. Juliet and her father both looked in the direction of the signal tower. A second later, a shockwave shook the entire building, rattling the windows. They both watched as the signal tower began to tilt, and fell completely. Her father stood up and his tail swished, did he actually feel something? Juliet smirked and said, "Nothing they can do, huh?"

He growled and ran out of the room, leaving Juliet alone. She started to struggle against her restraints. The adrenaline was losing affect and she could feel the electricity damage to her muscles again. She looked out the window at where the tower had been. She felt a sense of pride and hoped that everyone else was successful too. Even if she didn't get out, at least they could put a stop to all of this. Maybe Leo was okay too.

She felt a tug at the ropes and turned around to see Judy. She was so excited to see her that she swished her tail violently, which smacked Judy in the face. Juliet apologized profusely as Judy untied her. She flopped to the floor and found the strength to stand, she was unsure on her feet but could walk. They ran out of the door with Judy in the lead.

"Thank you, Judy. I owe you big."

"Don't mention it. I got some of what he said on my pen. I have an idea. We just need to get out of here and to that party. Leo and Nick are at the end of the hall, let's go." Juliet was having trouble keeping up, man the bunny was fast. The mention of Leo's name gave her energy and she pushed through. They rounded a corner and when Juliet saw Leo she immediately embraced him and said, "It's my dad, my dad is in charge or working here or something, but it's him. Wait, how did you get away?"

Leo smiled uncomfortable and pointed behind him. There stood Kansas in a business suit. He waved weakly at Juliet. She looked at Leo who said, "It's a long story, but he is coming with us, okay?"

She was too weak and scared to argue, so she just nodded. They all went for the elevator. Kansas used his card key to get them to the lobby. Halfway down Juliet said, "we have to come back for mom."

Kansas said, "Oh we are. We are gonna come back for your momma and my Millie. Then we are gonna give your Pa a piece of my mind for all this. He ain't been truthful with me."

Juliet nodded again. When the elevator let out into the foyer, there was no one there. She ignored it and they all ran for the door. It was locked. She was not in the mood for something as silly as a lock. She looked around for something to break the door. Kansas reached up and pulled a lever of some kind and the door swung open. "In case of fire." He said.

She felt like she could hug him, and felt stupid for not thinking of it herself, but she just wanted out. They all burst out into the mob of mammals in the courtyard. What was a few dozen when they went in, was hundreds now. Dancing and carrying on. It was easy to hide between the bobbing and gyrating mammals. The ZPD was trying to break up the party, but was having no luck. With the tower down, the predators were letting themselves enjoy the moment with reckless abandon.

Judy ran ahead of everyone toward the truck. They tried to follow her, but no one could keep up with her. Judy wove in and out of mammals like a creature possessed. They saw her hop up onto the DJ booth and say something. By the time they got there, she was holding up a microphone and was standing on top of the deck.

She spoke into the microphone, "Listen, there is something we want you all to hear. SafariCorp is not using the collars to make us all get along. They are using them to control predators. To keep predators from being happy and having a fair chance at life like the rest of us. Listen." She fumbled for a carrot-shaped pen and hit play.

"Predators are monsters that deserve to suffer" Juliet's father's words rang out across the crown and put them in a stunned silence. No one moved, no one spoke. Even the ZPD was still.

Judy continued, "Zootopia is a place for us to be together. To live together in harmony. Look around. Everyone is happy and together right now, and the collars are off. We have shut them down. Now it is up to us to make this work. We are Zootopia, everyone deserves a fair chance to be happy. Don't let them decide!" She finished speaking while pointing at the SafariCorp building.


	29. Chapter 29 – Aftermath

Chapter 29 – Aftermath

Nick got to the stage and grabbed the mic from Judy, saying, "I think what my friend here is trying to say is everybody play nice, okay? Oh, and enjoy the party!" He pushed Judy off of the stage. The music started up and everyone started enjoying themselves again, slowly, then back to the rhythm it was before.

Not wanting to overstay their welcome, Leo and Juliet, Nick and Judy, as well as Kansas, left as quietly as they could on foot. Nick was furiously trying to find Lazer. Apparently he had left to help Finnick with some kind of hiccup with the tower. Nick asked to borrow Juliet's bike to go help them.

She balked, "My baby? You better not put a scratch on it!"

Nick smiled, "Never! Scouts honor!" Juliet threw him the keys. Leo was hailing a cab to get them out of there before they got arrested or worse.

As they squeezed into the cab, Juliet watched Nick ride away on her bike. The night had been an odd one. She could bring herself to feel much of anything about seeing the fox ride her bike away. She did nope that Finnick was okay. Leo pulled her into the cab and they left the party. The music behind them like a fading heartbeat. She suddenly found herself very tired, and leaned on Leo's arm.

A brief discussion and they decided that going back to their apartment wasn't safe. They actually figured that going back to Wilde Times was the best bet. Kansas was particularly interested in the idea. Juliet still wasn't keen on him being around, but she understood he was as much of a victim as she was. Didn't mean she wouldn't pummel him. Actually, he probably had several beatings coming if he stepped out of line.

Once they were in Nick's office, Juliet flopped onto the dusty couch and curled up with the pillows. Leo sat next to her and put a paw on her hip. Kansas pointed and asked, "So y'all are…?"

Judy, Leo, and Judy answered simultaneously, "Yes."

Kansas put his paws up and dropped the subject, looking around. He was a little big for the office, so the tufts of his ears brushed the ceiling slightly. Making them twitch from time to time. After a minute he asked, "So this is HQ? I pictured something bigger."

Judy twitched her nose at him, "Seems fine to me."

He said, "Well, yeah, you're uh…you know…never mind." He put his paws in his pockets and leaned on a wall. He was getting the hint that he wasn't really anyone's 'pal'.

Judy's phone buzzed and everyone's ears went up. She looked at it and said, "Apparently they overdid the dynamite a little…they knocked over Finnick's van. They have it running again and are on their way."

Leo chuckled, and Juliet put her face in her paw, "Leave it to Koslov."

Kansas looked up, "Koslov? He is working with y'all? Is that why he fired me?"

Juliet glared at him, "No, he fired you for choking me out. He was going to hurt you but he knew I wouldn't like it. Yes, he is working WITH us. So shut up and be happy you are on the right side now."

He sighed, "Hey, I am sorry for all this time. Your Pa had me followin' you. He wanted me to turn you off a' bounty huntin' and set you right. I figured maybe a good fella might do that for ya'. You remind me a lot of my Millie. I have no intention of ruining any good thing you got darlin', so easy there."

Leo growled, "You're right there, but you don't tell Juliet to do anything, anytime, and you don't lay another hand on her ever again, we clear?"

Kansas smiled, "I didn't think you had a pair in there kid, but I get the message. I am mighty ashamed of what I did. I intend to make it right. Then you won't ever see me again."

Juliet was staring at the ceiling, listening to them fight about her. She felt too awful to shut them up right that second. She was also pondering why her father would be so set on watching her and trying to 'set her right'. If that was how he showed he cared, he was one messed up mammal. He did not need to be in charge of the happiness of anyone else. Hopefully what they had done was enough. There wasn't much more Juliet could give.

It wasn't long before Juliet found herself drifting into sleep. Her dreams were plagued by the same chase as before. Something chasing her through a jungle. The leaves stung and whipped at her. Something, something was going to get her. Always running. Why was she always running?

She woke up on the dusty couch. Judy was sleeping next to her. No one else was there. She could hear voices just outside the office. She recognized a few of them, Leo and Nick particularly. She got up slowly, every muscle in her body screamed in pain. She was going to have to take it easy for a while this time. Getting up for the door, she stopped when the tone in the voices changed to a much more urgent cadence. They were talking about something important.

Juliet debated. She could just walk out there and ask what was going on. She knew the tendency for males to want to protect her, and they may try to lie to her. Especially since she needed to recover. Not to mention her habit of running off and doing stupid things, so she probably earned it. Juliet turned and looked at the window in the office. It would be very uncomfortable, painful even, but she could sneak out of the window and eavesdrop on the conversation. Then she would get the whole story without worrying about if the boys had withheld anything.

She padded over to the sill silently. She put her paws on the lip of the window and chuckled to herself, she really needed to work on her trust issues. Breathing through the pain, she pulled herself up and through the window dexterously and landed soundlessly in the grass outside. There was a chill in the air. Without all of the mechanics running in the park, the cold of the underground had crept in.

The voices were louder now. Juliet snuck as noiselessly as she could manage, aware that her collar was off and she could call on whatever instincts she cared to. She turned the corner to see Nick, Leo, Kansas, Muscles, and Finnick standing in a circle and discussing something in low tones. She flattened against the wall and put her ear a close as she dared. Her tail flicked cautiously as she listened.

Nick said, "What do you think they would do to Abby? I mean they don't really have anything on her?"

Finnick said, "They are calling her a terrorist or something. Terrorist! She's almost as small as I am. I couldn't terrify a squirrel."

Leo said, "I don't know man, if they couldn't see you, you sound pretty scary."

Muscles added, "You sound like ten of you."

Finnick said, "Not the point guys. They are taking this whole thing out on her. Can Carrots do anything?"

Nick sighed, "She quit. She quit for all of this. No, she can't. Carrots is not an officer anymore. Abby is in jail for us, too. This isn't what I wanted when I started all of this."

Leo asked, "Well what did you think was going to happen Nick? That we were just going to start a war and go home like nothing happened? We all knew it was coming to this. "

Muscles interjected, "You are very tired from your ordeals this evening. Perhaps we should rest and talk it over in the morning, yes?"

Some dejected mumblings and rustling later, Juliet could hear the shuffling of pawpads and the opening of the office door. She peeked around the corner to see Nick still standing in the dull light of an overhead lamp. He was lost in thought and staring at the ground. She couldn't help herself and crouched down to sneak up on him.

Ten feet, four, one. He was oblivious. She jumped up and said calmly, "boo!"

Nick jumped two feet in the air and inhale-screamed so loud that Juliet thought everyone was going to come running, but they didn't. She giggled and pointed at him. He was not so amused, gasping and looking at her in stark horror.

She choked out, "I am sorry, I couldn't help myself. I was eavesdropping and it was so easy."

He settled and said, "So you heard that huh?"

"Yep. I think that I figured out why you were actually so upset though."

He looked at her sideways, "Oh yeah, why's that?"

She poked him, "You feel bad because Judy quit, and you know how much she wants to be a cop."

He opened his eyes a little wider and said, "I never said that. I never said that, I didn't say that."

"Ha ha. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. But you know, Judy doesn't do anything she doesn't want to. You know that. Don't worry about her, she is a pretty tough bunny."

"No kidding. Wonderboy worries about you though. He should, you've use up at least seven of your lives by now."

"Maybe five, maybe. I am trying to change. Running into my dad scared the wits out of me, so I am definitely going to be watching my back for a while. Speaking of Leo, he is probably calling the coast guard looking for me by now."

As if on cue, the office door opened and Leo peeked out. Juliet waved to him, and he glared at her. She and Nick both meandered back up towards the door. Juliet whispered, "you should tell Judy how you feel some time, you might be surprised."

Either Nick didn't hear her, or pretended he didn't. He picked up his pace and made it to the door first. Leo held his glare on Juliet all the way up to the door. When she was close enough he said, "Really? You snuck out? Do you ever use a door?"

"Well that's no fun…" She winked at him and he rolled his eyes, closing the office door after her.


	30. Chapter 30 - Home

Chapter 30 – Home

Judy was yawning and rubbing her eyes when Juliet walked in. Nick shot her a look and shook his head. She wasn't sure if he meant to not talk about Judy or about Abigail, but she figured both could wait. They all needed rest. Juliet planned to get word to Abbigail that they hadn't forgotten her somehow, and then talk with everyone about how to do something.

Her first instinct had been to go straight to the ZPD and turn herself in. That way at least Abigail wouldn't be alone taking the heat for what they had done. However, she promised to stop running off and doing things that way. It sucked, a lot. She kept thinking about the poor cat sitting in a cell alone. Abigail was strong though, she would get through.

Leo put his paw on Juliet's shoulder, shaking her from thought. She looked at him. Apparently he had said something and she hadn't heard him. He repeated, "You want to go home? Or do you want to crash here?"

She sighed, "Might as well go home. There isn't a place that is really safe. If they can isolate our collars, they know everywhere we have been. If they wanted to come after us, they could have already.

Nick said, "Well thank you for that happy little note. I think we all need to go to our respective living spaces and sleep. Sleep is necessary, and maybe coffee. Lots of it. I need to get a coffee maker for this office. Just a note, my birthday is coming up…"

Everybody grumbled and started to vacate the office, rolling their eyes. Leo whispered to Juliet, "No one actually knows when his birthday is, he just keeps saying that when he wants something."

Judy glowered at Nick, "No it's not."

Nick froze, "Okay, yeah, aren't you tired Carrots? I am tired…" he stretched and yawned. Judy eyeballed him as she left the office. He exhaled swiftly and released the stretch as Judy left. Juliet snorted and said, "Nice, fox, real smooth."

Leo was not too happy to take her bike back home, but there was little choice. He kept his muzzle on or near her shoulder the entire time. The warmth of his breath was pleasant against the cold of the wind. Every screen they passed had headlines like, "Attack against Peace" and "Anti-collar Terrorist Group" flashing across it. She was relieved to see there were no photos of any of them being displayed. Which meant that the security cameras at SafariCorp hadn't picked them up. Or her father was protecting her and not releasing them. That thought made her angry and she opened the throttle a bit. Leo grabbed on to her more tightly.

She welcomed the warm winds of Sahara Square and the familiar sight of the apartment. The tarp has remained in place and there was a note on the door. While Juliet wheeled the bike up, Leo checked the note. When she came up to meet him he said, "Maintenance, for the skylight." And crumpled the note into his pocket. The simplicity of it was so nice after the chaos of the evening.

Juliet set her helmet on the table and flopped on the couch. Leo set about picking up coffee mugs and putting them into the sink. She peeked around and watched him. With everything going on, she had been so worried about winning and saving everyone that she felt like Leo was forgotten. He was so quiet, and calm. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen, standing behind him. She whispered into his ear, "It can wait, come to bed. You are as tired as I am."

He looked at her, slightly surprised. He seemed confused. She smiled, "What? You think I don't care? It's all about me? You got shocked out and capture the same as I did. You also managed to get Kansas on board and saved all of our tails. Thank you. I don't think anyone ever said thank you."

He looked into the sink and smiled, sighing he said, "No. They didn't. They don't." He put his hands on the counter and looked at the floor. "I almost lost you, again, Juliet. It's so much. I don't know how I can keep doing this."

Juliet popped under him and crouched on the floor to meet his eyes, "Hey, it's not forever. It's just right now. You waited so long, and now you are impatient? Go figure." She bopped him on the nose with a claw and then kissed it. She got up and walked toward the bedroom, leaving him there. "Well, I am going to bed. You can keep rage cleaning the apartment or you can come to bed with me. Your call."

Before she turned all the way around he had bounded across the kitchen and swooped her up and planted a kiss on her neck, "You are always my choice, Juliet." She led him by the paw into the bedroom. It was warm from the hole in the ceiling, but they didn't care. They just laid on top of the bed. Juliet was already falling asleep when Leo pulled her close to him. He showered her in soft kisses. His whiskers made her ear twitch and she pawed him away. He giggled and snuggled into sleep.

All of her worries forgotten, she felt like she could stay that way forever.


	31. Chapter 31 - Here We Go Again

Chapter 31 – Here we go again.

With Leo having to work, Juliet decided she was going to head to Wilde Times and see if she could offer any help at all with Abigail. Maybe together they could find a solution. She concentrated on the road so she didn't see the blaring headlines all over Zootopia. She couldn't get to the Times fast enough.

She pulled her helmet off just in time to hear Judy yelling something loud enough to be heard across the park. Juliet figured she finally heard about Abigail. That bunny sure got fired up about everything. The closer Juliet got, the more she realized that Judy had to be yelling at Nick, because you only yelled at someone you liked that way.

Juliet knocked on the office door gently. She heard a scramble inside and the door opened, Nick answered it. He was obviously very happy to have the interruption to the verbal scolding he was receiving. Juliet let herself in and sat on the couch. Judy was standing, cross armed, tapping her foot. Juliet asked her, "What has your tail in a twist, Judy?"

"They are calling Abigail a terrorist! They are going to try to pin all of this on her because SafariCorp says nothing happened on the inside, they are denying everything! Unless one of us turns themselves in, she is going down for blowing up the tower! I can't do anything because I am not an officer!"

Juliet nodded her head and said, "No one said it was yours to solve, Judy. We are going to figure this out. It is probably my dad covering it up in some weird attempt to show me he cares about me or something. The thing is, there is no way that one of us turning ourselves in keeps the rest of us safe. We are all connected."

Judy softened and plopped on the couch. She huffed and stayed silent. "What are we going to do?"

Nick looked at Judy, he obviously wanted to say something, but didn't. Juliet wanted to just bash their heads together and say, "Don't you realize you like _each other?_ ". It must have been just as uncomfortable to watch her and Leo for all those years. If either one of them had half of the confidence that Kansas had….

Juliet jumped up and said, "Kansas. That scum-sucking son-of-a-stray is just the answer we need. He is gonna rat on my dad. He was in there, and no one knows that we're associated yet. Anyone know where to find him?"

Judy popped up and looked at Nick hopefully. Nick stood up and said, "He crashed with Muscles, let's go get him." He opened the office door and indicated that they should go through it.

When they got to street level, transportation became an immediate issue. Nick had taken his bike, and Juliet had taken hers. Judy had apparently taken the bus. Juliet unclipped Leo's helmet from the back of her bike and tossed it to Judy. Judy caught it and looked at her, puzzled. Putting on her helmet, she could see the frightened look on Nick's face as he realized what Juliet was trying to do.

Judy turned around slowly and looked at Nick's bike. It was bright red with an obnoxious amount of chrome. There was more than enough room for Judy to sit behind him. Juliet couldn't take it and yelled, "What? You scared Judy? I thought you were all about 'try everything'"

She turned around and shot Juliet a look, put the helmet on and hopped onto the bike behind Nick. Nick exploded the bike to life and Judy clutched at his hideous green shirt for dear life. He chuckled and yelled over the noise, "You gonna be okay, Carrots?"

She nodded into his back and he rolled the bike onto the road. Juliet started her bike and followed him. They made their way through the city. Nick was either a very aggressive rider, or was trying to impress Judy. He was weaving in and out of cars with abandon.

Juliet wasn't very happy when she realized they were approaching the Rainforest District. She really didn't like rain. Luckily, it wasn't currently raining as they came out of the tunnel. They didn't go too far into the district before Nick cut across two lanes and down into one of the less populated parts.

They pulled up to a house that was carved into a large tree. The path was littered with stones that seemed to be polished by a river, but they were all painted with a different rune in black or white ink. There were large, square stones etched with Celtic knot work leading up to the door. Juliet tried to avoid disturbing any of the rune stone on their way up to the door. The door itself had a giant, roaring bear holding an axe carved into it.

Juliet commented, "Great for our image." Nick laughed as he knocked. There was a dull thudding that grew louder until the door opened. Nick opened his arms and said, "Hey! Muscles! How ya doing? Can we come in?"

The bear rolled his eyes, growled, and left the door open as he stomped away. Nick said, "I will take that as a yes."

They entered the house. The inside was carved as ornately as the stones outside. There were several very threatening, very large, very sharp, weapons decorating the walls. I was also warmed by the pleasant coals of a dying fire in large hearth in the main room. Juliet heard a faint snoring, she looked to the corner of the room, and saw Kansas passed out in a chair.

Juliet poked Judy and they looked at each other, they both had the same idea. They each snuck over and got on either side of the chair and shouted, "Boo!"

Kansas jumped up and out of the chair, yowling. He was bristled and his claws out, panting. They had scared him good. Nick, Juliet, and Judy all laughed so hard their stomachs hurt. At least until Muscles came running out of the back room carrying a battle-axe twice as big as any of them, thinking something had happened. Nick scrambled over to where Judy was and pressed against the wall. Kansas tried to smooth his tail out and said, "Whooaah, s' alright partner, they caught me with ma hat off." When the bear realized what was going on, he dropped the axe. It stuck in the floor and he waved his paws dismissively at them, going back to his room. Leaving the giant, gleaming axe stuck in the floorboard.

Juliet found the whole thing to be hilarious, and enjoyed seeing Kansas caught off guard. He almost looked like a normal mammal. Everyone settled down. Nick went over and had to test how sharp the axe muscles had was, which he confirmed was indeed very sharp. They all found a place to sit. Kansas sat and said, "I don' remember orderin a wake-up call."

Juliet said, "We need a really big favor. Like, you and me would be square."

His ears went up and he turned toward her, "You have my attention"


	32. Chapter 32 - Going Public

Chapter 32 – Going public

"Well, we want you to go to the ZPD and file a report about everything that happened The other night." Juliet flashed a toothy grin at him. He met the grin with a grimace. The only sound was the gentle snapping of the fading coals in the fireplace.

Kansas exhaled a large breath that ended in whistle. "That is no small request. I could get in a heap a trouble."

Judy jumped up, "I can take you in and vouch for you. I will tell them that you had nothing to do with the tower explosion. We just need them to know what is really going on, from someone that isn't a suspected cohort of Nick's". She bounced from paw to paw and seemed practically giddy at the idea of walking into the ZPD.

Nick grumbled, "Thanks, Carrots."

Judy said, "You're welcome." On instinct, without thinking. It earned a chuckled from Kansas and a face palm from Nick, who slumped in his seat. Judy looked embarrassed, the meaning of his comment just hit her. She turned to look at him apologetically, and she deflated her energy somewhat. Nick waved it off.

Kansas sighed, the tufts of his ears were disheveled from the poor night's sleep, and the rude awakening. He clicked his tongue and looked at the floor before he said, "I think that y'all are on the right track, but we might need to go a different direction with this. I need m' hat" He got up and went in the other room. Everyone looked at each other as they listened to the sound of him padding down the hall. There was a low growl from the sleeping bear somewhere within the house, and Kansas came back out straightening his hat and placing it on his head. He continued, "We need to go to the media. If y'all want to stick it to 'em. We need to get the word to the people."

Judy started to say, "But the ZPD can…"

Juliet cut her off, "As much as this really, really hurts me to say, I think Kansas is right. Oh shave me for saying this, but he has the right idea. The ZPD is full of prey, they might have a hard time…being sympathetic. I mean, you quit because of that, did you."

Judy looked at the floor and her ears drooped. Nick stood up and put a paw on her shoulder, "Hey Carrots, you did the right thing. The cats are right. Let's get you on the news talking about what they asked you to do, and what happened at SafariCorp, and then everyone will know you did the right thing. Not just us. So let's do it."

Judy perked her ears up and shook her head in agreement. They heard a thudding coming from the other room and Muscles sauntered in, wearing a kilt. He pulled the axe from the floor and leaned it on the wall, lovingly. He grumbled, "Might as well go with you. I can't sleep with all of the plotting you are doing in my front room." He trudged over to the fireplace and grabbed a bucket of water nearby, dousing the coals. They sputtered and hissed in argument.

Nick said, "That's the spirit! So who's ride are Kansas and Judy taking?"

Kansas immediately responded, "I don't do choppers. You have something with four wheels?"

Muscles jingled a set of keys, Kansas raised an eyebrow and said, "Thanks buddy, but I don't think I can reach the pedals on that bronco truck a yours. You mind giving me and the little lady a lift?" Muscles growled a response and headed for the door. Kansas chuckled and said, "Not a morning mammal, that one."

Judy plodded over to Kansas and pointed a finger at him, "Fine, but we do this MY way."

"Anything you say Ma'am." Kansas tilted his hat and followed Judy out of the door.

Nick asked Juliet, "Do you think that she is going to be okay with him?"

Juliet laughed, "Trust me. She'll neuter him before he gets close. Hey, I wanted to talk to Finnick about something. Do you know where he is?"

"Uh, probably crashed in his van over by the Times. He sleeps in there most days. Mostly because he is too cheap to get a place, and because he spent so much to get it painted he might as well live in it."

"Hey Nick, can you do me a favor?" Juliet grabbed her helmet and admired the rose that Leo had painted on it.

Nick eyed her sideways, "Uh oh. You're gonna do something stupid aren't you?"

"Yep."

"You want me to tell Wonder boy that you love him? If something happens."

"Pretty much. That, and to take care of my mom. I know it's a lot, but I don't want to disappear and leave nothing at all."

Nick chuckled, "Well, whatever you are going to do. Let's hope you come back. I don't do well with mushy feelings stuff. So, come back. Maybe when this is over, you can help me run the Times."

Juliet looked up and swished her tail, tilting her head slightly. "Really? What brought this on?"

Nick sighed, "I was thinking that you don't have a job and that was because you went after me and got dragged into all of this. Now you are pretty much running it. Don't tell anyone I said that. I guess I owe you one, and you aren't bad company. Cat."

Juliet smiled, "You either, Fox."

She found Finnick's van about a block from the Collar Clinic in Happytown. She could hear the faint snoring of the diminutive fox sleeping away inside. She could see the dents on one side where they had flipped it back over after the explosion. The dents were a souvenir of a what must have been a life-changing evening for the mammal.

She rapped gently on the back door of the van. The snoring dulled briefly, and continued. She tapped louder. The snoring stopped, and there was a rustling from within the depths of the van. The door flew open and Finnick stood over her with a baseball bat. The bat was only large enough to be irritating to most mammals, and was hardly threatening when held by the miniature fluff with bed fur in his nautical boxers before her. She raised an eyebrow and said, "I need a favor. You may want to put some pants on."

The van door slammed in her face and there was movement within the van that jostled it slightly. Finnick opened the door again and tilted his head, indicating she should join him. The upper interior of the van was lined with rope lights that lit the inside glumly. There was a small mattress with a very fluffy pillow and quilt laid out upon it, as well as a small armchair. He had a tiny cooler and hamper full of clothes tucked behind the other door. It was pretty cozy for the back of a van. Juliet sat on the bed, and Finnick sat on the chair.

"So what are you after? You here for Nick?"

She sunk into the bed somewhat, but settled before answering, "Uh no. He knows I am here, but I am here on my own. How good are you at programming collars?"

"It's my bread and butter. At least it was, before the collars were off. I have been cooling my jets here since then. Didn't think that one through."

"Sorry Bro. Can you program one to flip? I mean do the opposite of what it does?"

Finnick chuckled, "I did that by accident once or twice, yeah. I think I remember how I did that. Why on Earth would you want to?"

Juliet sighed, "I am doing something stupid."

"Yeah, girl, you're good at that. Hold on." He got out of the chair and climbed over the back seat. She could only see the tops of his substantial ears waggling, and hear him grunting in effort. Suddenly, a familiar duffel bag was thrown over the seat and landed in front of Juliet. Finnick followed the bag with a thud. He started rifling through it, and chose two remotes.

Juliet perked her ears up and asked, "Why two?"

Finnick pointed one at her and said, "You want one to undo it, or is someone in for it?"


End file.
